Amazon Lights Fire: Nearly 100k Tablets Pre-Ordered, iSuppli Tears It Down
Amazon‘s new Kindle Fire isn’t due to ship until November 15, but that isn’t stopping this humble tablet from setting things ablaze: Looks like roughly 95,000 pre-orders have already been stoked, says eDataSource, a NYC-based digital marketing company. The firm estimated pre-sales based on a sampling from 800,000 email users.
Granted, this number isn’t as huge as the iPad 1′s launch figure of 300,000 units, but it’s a good start. And you can expect that number to grow further still, once more people realize the value inherent in this device.
While it may not be a top contender spec-wise, the tech teardown masters at iSuppli did discover that the Android gadget does have quite some value — $209.64, to be specific. That’s how much it costs to manufacture, yet it sells for only $199. In other words, Amazon’s losing $10 for every Fire sold, making this little 7-inch tablet a huge bargain for consumers — at least those who don’t mind going without a microSD card slot, cameras, and Honeycomb. But this obviously isn’t geared toward spec hounds. As a loss leader, the Fire is likely selling for so little because Amazon’s hoping it will be a conduit for more retail sales. And with the holidays right around the corner, the sub-$200 Fire, as well as Amazon’s business as a whole, could be poised to do very well in the mainstream consumer market.
The takeaway here? If you want one, don’t wait. This Fire could go like hotcakes.
[via Engadget, InformationWeek]
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