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Ricardo Bilton & Gloria Sin
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Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?

By | May 3, 2011, 4:37pm PDT

Summary: Not to be outdone by all the buzz for the newly released Blackberry Playbook or iPad 2, it seems Amazon is also joining the color tablet PC fray.

Not to be outdone by all the buzz for the newly released Blackberry Playbook or iPad 2, it seems Amazon is also joining the color tablet PC fray.

Quanta Computer, the Taiwanese tablet PC manufacturer of the Playbook and Sony S1 & S2, along with E Ink Holdings, have received orders from Amazon to develop a color LCD touchscreen device featuring “Fringe Field Switching technology“. Apparently, FFS LCD screens offer a wider viewing angle, more realistic colors and better outdoor viewing than regular LCD displays. Though no prices have been released yet, this contract is expected to bring in “$3.5 billion” for Quanta by the end of 2011, with “monthly orders during the peak season … expected to reach about 700,000-800,000 units and Quanta is expected to start shipping as soon as the second half of 2011,” according to DigiTimes-just in time for the holiday shopping season.

So what will be the fate of the Kindle, Amazon’s flagship e-book reader? Sources at DigiTimes suggest the Kindle’s days may be numbered due to its inability to appeal to consumers beyond North America and Europe, which only further legitimizes that an Amazon-brand iPad competitor is really on its way:

“[While] Amazon’s Kindle still has strong sales, but the e-book reader is currently still unable to successfully cut into the markets outside of North America and Europe; therefore, Amazon internally plans to reduce Kindle’s market price to attract consumer demand from the education and consumer market, while will push tablet PC using its advantage in software and content resources to challenge iPad2.”

Is this why Target is selling the Kindle for a mere $114 this week? Does Amazon have a chance against Apple?

[Image from EcoGadgets.com]

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Topics

Apple iPad, Amazon.com Inc., Amazon Kindle, E-books & E-Readers, Tablets, Keyboards, Monitors & Displays, Notebooks, Personal Technology, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Peripherals, Components, Gloria Sin

Gloria Sin is a freelance journalist based in New York City.

Disclosure

Gloria Sin

I have no stocks or investments in any companies or interests which may lead to a conflict of interest in my coverage.

Biography

Gloria Sin

Gloria Sin is a New York-based freelance journalist who writes about the tech toys that you can't live without for ZDNet. She has little patience for poorly designed user experiences, and is not afraid of opening the guts of her own machines for repair or hacking her gadgets for new uses.

She has written for FastCompany.com, Popular Science, Olympic News Service; she currently covers the startup scene in the Tri-State area for NYConvergence.com.

Prior to ZDNet, Gloria was the online editor for Dance International, and dabbled in web design and social media consulting. When she is offline, you will find her at an ice rink living out her figure skating dreams. Follow her on Twitter.

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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
jamestaylor321 22nd Nov
may be number due to its incapacity to plea to consumers past North America and Europe, which only more legitimizes that cheap holiday sing along tickets an Amazon-brand iPad participant is in fact on its way:
View in thread
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Well, I remember being....
Economister 3rd May 2011
poo-pooed here when I suggested the limited function nature of the Kindle would doom it sooner rather than later.

Do any of those individuals care to step forward?
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
phil.hartman79 18th Sep
looking forward for any user reviews

Mortgage Jacksonville FL
Mortgage Jacksonville Florida


Political News
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Hey, cheaper than that Bang & Olafson TV
Robert Hahn 3rd May 2011
I'm sorry, Dave, that does not compute. $3.5 billion for 750,000 units is $4,600 per unit. It isn't million either: that would be $4.60/unit.

We need better spies, and better math.

Nothing I read here suggests that this is anything more than a color e-book reader that can deal with non-Latin character sets (which is apparently a limitation of the Kindle).
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Agree
wackoae Updated - 3rd May 2011
@Robert Hahn The numbers make absolutely no sense.

Also, it is very well known that eInk SUCKS for playing animation .... which means it would suck as a display for a tablet.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
Habiloso Updated - 3rd May 2011
@Robert Hahn

At least one other article I read elsewhere on this said 700,000 to 800,000 PER MONTH.

If you assume that the $3.5bn quoted is USA$ (and not HK$ as assumed by blackbeagle2, below), then 750,000 for 12 months would be 9 million units at $388 each. How does that sound in terms of materials and production cost?

And to the authors, I really cannot tell you how much I dislike reading articles that refer to "iPad-kill"! It is, at best, banal journalism . . . and you are both much better than that.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
itbabyx 15th Oct
@Robert Be interesting to see how this little baby kits the ipad sales. Im guessing only a small % nothing major. Afterall ipad carries a "trendy" factor that people love to be a part of
snap
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Try it using Hong Kong Dollars
Blackbeagle2 3rd May 2011
3.5B Hong Kong Dollars / 700,000 = ~$650 USD/Unit. Ouch!

3.5B HKD/800,000 = ~$560 USD/unit.
Still painful, but getting more into the ballpark.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
nickswift498 3rd May 2011
@Blackbeagle2 Are you accounting for markup? That always pushes the price up considerably.

I keep telling people that the xoom isn't going to compete with the iPad in sales yet because it's the same tablet for a much higher entry price. So far, nobody can match apple in terms of value -- that is, what you get for what you pay... And it's mostly because they control manufacturing and design from start to finish more than anyone else, which drives their unit price down, while still allowing them to turn a profit.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
mickyduncan 4th May 2011
@nickswift498 - i keep telling people the reason why other tablets (and certain smartphones) fail is that the quality and quantity of apps is several orders of magnitude behind apple. and making tablets or book readers more pc like is a mistake; the ipad does not follow the desktop metaphor

http://mickyd.wordpress.com
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
hhlee@... 4th May 2011
@Blackbeagle2
I think it is more like:
3.5B NTD(New Taiwan Dollar)/750,000 = ~$155 USD/Unit.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
nickswift498 3rd May 2011
I'd be cautious about calling anything an iPad killer before the numbers are in, or before thee device has even been shown or formally announced. I know you guys want a good, successful non-apple tablet really badly, but come on.
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Kiss of Death
His_Shadow 3rd May 2011
Calling anything an iDevice Killer ensures said device will disappear without a trace v
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EXACTLY!!!!
wackoae 3rd May 2011
@His_Shadow Calling it an "iPad killer" will most likely guarantee it won't even be a contender.

Best examples: Xoom and Galaxy
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agreed!
mickyduncan 4th May 2011
@His_Shadow here! here!

http://mickyd.wordpress.com
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Contributr
RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
Gloria Sin 3rd May 2011
Thanks for pointing out the math as written doesn't really add up. I updated the post to specify that according to DigiTimes, Quanta Computer is projected to make $3.5 billion this year (including this contract from Amazon) and that about 700-800k units will be shipped per month at the peak, starting the second half of this year. All numbers from DigiTimes' sources.

You have to admit Amazon has the content/service that people would want, no matter the technical specs of the device. That, in itself poses a legit threat to Apple.

GS
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Fear the Bezos
Robert Hahn 4th May 2011
I agree: if I were Steve Jobs, I would fear Amazon as I fear no one else when it comes to being a thorn in the side of iPad. All the other guys seem to think that they're selling hardware gizmos; if they only beat my feeds and speeds they'll clean my clock.

Some of them pay lip service to having an "App Store," but mostly as window dressing to say they have one.

Amazon is for real. They have music, they have videos, and they have 20 million active credit card accounts. If they succeed in pushing Google's Android app store off the stage (which Google deserves), Amazon will be the ecosystem equal of Apple... something that does not now exist.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
mickyduncan 4th May 2011
@Robert Hahn - i agree about amazons being superior in only one way - ebooks.

true amazon has music and videos but i think you find the itunes store has that and more. im not going to speculate on number of credit card users which may or may not be relevant.

http://mickyd.wordpress.com
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What a load of cobblers...
grillomalta 4th May 2011
The iPad has been killed how many times exactly? Thirty times? More lives than a cat I would say...

The iPad is on its' second derivation, while most tablets are still to see the light of day.

I know you want to see an iPad demise, but to say that this is bordering on the ridiculous is putting it mildly!
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Not about the hardware
jimrice@... 4th May 2011
Everyone that comes out with an IPAD-killer is forgetting the one thing that made the IPAD in the first place - the ease of getting software. Remember all the IPOD killers that were coming out?
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
jgm@... 4th May 2011
@jimrice@... And everything that came out was better than the iPod, hence the iPod was killed.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
DeusXMachina 4th May 2011
@jgm@...

You apparently didn't see the iPod's sales numbers this quarter.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
mickyduncan 4th May 2011
@jgm@... by what? the zune? wink
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
psychobdelic 4th May 2011
As it doesn't do flash, or allow me to plug in a USB drive the iPad has been stillborn as far as I am concerned. What is the point of such a lovely piece of hardware if it can't access half the websites I would wish to use it for? Any tablet device that can do that is an iPad killer, even if it is more expensive. Pretty is good, but useful is better (I thought that Apple were supposed to listen to their customers: Apparently not.) P.S. the kindle rocks - I don't need it to do moving pictures - it's an electronic BOOK. It uses reflected light, like a BOOK, I can read it for hours without getting a headache, like a BOOK, it's battery lasts for days or weeks unlike other portable electronic devices. the iPad doesn't even come close to competing with it.
Now if they came up with a device with OLED on one face, E-Ink on the other, was flash capable, would allow me to plug in usb devices - then I might consider buying one to replace my kindle - but e-Ink is the whole point.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
DeusXMachina Updated - 4th May 2011
@psychobdelic

"Any tablet device that can do that is an iPad killer, even if it is more expensive."


Yeah, you don't get to just redefine terms. Or are you such a megalomaniac that you believe the entire tablet market revolves around you?

"is better (I thought that Apple were supposed to listen to their customers: Apparently not.)"

Hate to break it to you, but they are. And their customers as a whole don't give a rat's ass about Flash.


"[kindle blah blah blah] the iPad doesn't even come close to competing with it."

Hate to break it to you, but the iPad not only comes close to competing with it, it trounces it in the market. Your objections work equally against the Nook. Are you claiming that does not compete?
And I like the kindle and am getting another Kindle 3 for my mother.

"but e-Ink is the whole point."

No it isn't. The whole point is that if Amazon wants to increase market, they feel they have to make another multipurpose device.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
Bates_ 4th May 2011
Let Amazon stir up a buzz, it won't do them any good. They will be lucky if this tablet is a NOOK Color killer.
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I suspect the Nook Color is it's real competition
cornpie 4th May 2011
@Bates_ Not the ipad. In the picture it even looks a lot like the Nook Color. But Amazon is already behind the times as B&N came out with an Android 2.2 update last week.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
Jeff Tyler 4th May 2011
As long as Apple has the supply chain tied up for the next year or two there will not be a substantial challenge to its market. After two years, when the competition has equal solicitaion footing and time to improve their kluges, there will be true competition for the iPad 4 or 5. happy
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
noverge 4th May 2011
The only thing that would qualify as an 'iPad Killer' would be a fully functional computer with sufficient horsepower to run things like Photoshop or CAD in a similar form factor-- in other words a real laptop replacement...
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
DeusXMachina 4th May 2011
@noverge

The only thing that would qualify s an iPad killer is a device that drove iPad sales down.

Specs are irrelevant. There have been tablets capable of running PS and CAD for 10 years already. You just don't get it.
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It's not about the ipad
pauldryan 4th May 2011
Amazon is competing with Barnes & Noble who have leaped forward with their color device.

Less talk from the fanboys and more talk about the features and benefits of this new product would be of greater value on this thread.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
DeusXMachina 4th May 2011
@pauldryan

How is an LCD a leap forward? You might want to break that to all the people buying e-readers, who STILL overwhelmingly chose the Kindle.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
pauldryan Updated - 4th May 2011
@DeusXMachina

Look, I already own a Kindle 3G and purchased a K3 for my wife and another for my daughter and we all love them. I purchased the Hip Street 7" color tablet (Dell $71.00) to see why all the fuss over a touch screen LCD. I'm still not impressed and prefer my eink Kindle.

My point was that Amazon increased sales but lost market share to Barnes & Noble who has been selling that Nook Color as fast as they can get them out there. Amazon must defend that part of their business. The "leap forward" reference was to B&N's market share associated with a color ereader that clearly a whole lot of people seem to believe is an ideal pocket device.

Don't forget 20% of the population believes Elvis is still alive.

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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
DeusXMachina 4th May 2011
@ pauldryan
There is really no evidence that the Kindle lost share to the Nook. People purchasing the Nook were purchasing a new device, and may not have purchased a Kindle in any event.
More to the point, market share stagnation of the Kindle is more than matched by increased market share of the cross-platform Kindle app.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
rp518 4th May 2011
I wish these authors would replace the word "killer" with "competitor". They wouldn't sound like they were trolling for hits.

Also, the information in the artcle reminded me of MMF spam shilling for investors. I want technical specifications.
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Where's Amazon's Research?
camcost@... 4th May 2011
At least the way it's reported here, seems like Amazon is having some Taiwanese company throw together some make shift product.
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Get Oprah to Push it
camcost@... 4th May 2011
If Amazon gets Oprah to help-out once again, they might have a chance.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
opcom 4th May 2011
The reason ihave not bught an e-reader is the limited memory. Many of the books I want to read are not OCR'd, ancient, and they can be very large datawise. The article didn't mention the volume of storage and I ass-u-me it can deal with plain old PDFs.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
quiltfanatic 4th May 2011
I have the original Ipad and I have the new Xoom. As far as I'm concerned the Xoom is superior to the Ipad. The media is in love with every new tablet for about a week or two and then they harpoon it and direct their focus on the next one that comes out. Very fickle. The big mistake is in comparing everything to an Ipad. Apps are over rated..(how many do you need?) and it doesn't even have Flash.
Most of the new tablets have substance and it's just a matter of what you need.
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
wbaxterwork 5th May 2011
Too bad if the eInk version of Kindle or Nook go away. LCD screens are horrible things to read from. whether you're talking TVs, computer monitors, or tablets. Ten or 15 minutes of reading and the eyestrain gets to be too much. The LED backlit LCDs are only marginally better than the ones with flourescent backlights. eInk isn't as good as a printed book, but it's close enough. A friend of mine put music scores on her iPAD and they're all but unreadable if you're actually reading the music. My Kindle is orders of magnitude better for reading text or music PDFs.

But on the other hand the Kindle's web browser is not very good. Tablets are definitely the better options
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I Disagree!
NathanielB 17th Aug
What do you think amazon has to offer that can bet apple? There itunes store has everything you could ever want and the ipad is more then just a book which is all I know about the amazon pad!?
So what is it that amazon are doing to top the ipad?
I dont think apple has to worry at all, I dont see amazon as a competitor and Im quite sure apple dont either. In fact they clearly see Samsung as more of a worry as its them the media is all over when it comes to copy rights and being a major competitor!
LCD Monitors
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
jamestaylor321 22nd Nov
may be number due to its incapacity to plea to consumers past North America and Europe,cheap holiday organ spectacular tickets which only more legitimizes that an Amazon-brand iPad participant is in fact on its way
cheap voice male christmas tickets
0 Votes
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RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
jamestaylor321 22nd Nov
may be number due to its incapacity cheap holiday organ spectacular tickets to plea to consumers past North America and Europe, which only more legitimizes that an Amazon-brand iPad participant is in fact on its way:
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Amazon's iPad killer in stores by Christmas 2011?
jamestaylor321 22nd Nov
may be number due to its incapacity to plea to consumers past North America and Europe, which only more legitimizes that cheap holiday sing along tickets an Amazon-brand iPad participant is in fact on its way:

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