If you are familiar with Apple’s PR strategy, you’ll recognize the hype that goes along with each potential new product release. Speculations fly while Apple stays tight lipped until the product is launched.
That trend continues with the much anticipated release of the next generation iPad. March 29 seems to be the latest “magic date” for the release of the iPad 3. This goes along with the usual spring release date of the highly sought after tablet. So I wouldn’t be surprised if this release date was at least close to the actual one.
So, what will this mean for the Kindle Fire? In the beginning, I don’t see it being affected too much because it seems to appeal to a different market than the iPad. A big reason for that is the price. The iPad is also geared more towards heavy duty computing, and includes a camera and bluetooth compatibility. The Kindle Fire is great for browsing the internet, videos, reading and games. It is just a matter of determining what you will use the tablet for and what you want it to do.
Apple has been known for top quality devices without too much cap on price. Despite the $500 price tag on the iPad, consumers know they are going to get a top notch product. Amazon designs the cheapest device they can that is still functional so that it can reach out to the biggest number of users possible. I don’t see the price of the iPad 3 dropping a whole lot, at least not anywhere near the price of the Fire.
The Kindle Fire is the second best selling tablet after the iPad, and has been the only tablet to show a margin of success comparable to the Apple tablet, but the iPad’s sales hit record numbers in recent months. So that just proves the point that both can exist and do extremely well.
Let’s take a look at a longer term effects. Now that so many consumers own a tablet, they will want to move up in features and quality. Amazon will need to continue to try to integrate more features at the lowest cost for the Kindle Fire to show strong sales figures. Another key factor is maintaining a strong Android Marketplace. So, once Amazon achieves that, then they can release a second generation Kindle Fire.
This is all speculation base on the 10″ iPad. If the rumored iPad Mini shows up, then Amazon will really need to get into gear to present a Kindle Fire version that can compete with it.
Until I see what the new iPad will look like and the price, it is hard to tell exactly how it will affect the status of the Kindle Fire. So, more concrete observations to come after March 29, or whenever the official release date is. Stay tuned.