Amazon.com introduced their new Kindle Fire tablet to compete with the Apple iPad, but at a price point of $199. N. Venkat Venkatraman, chairman of the Information Systems Department at the School of Management, offers his insight from a business perspective on how the Kindle Fire stands up to other tablets in the marketplace:
“With Kindle Fire, Amazon is firmly positioned to compete in the digital sector. Priced at $199, Fire is positioned at a different price point from Apple iPad and Android tablets from Samsung, HTC and others. Now, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Sony eReader and others have to follow suit.
“From the point of view of tablet manufacturers, it will be interesting to see how they compete against Fire in terms of the aggressive price point — albeit without communication and collaboration functionality.
“Eighteen months after Apple announced the iPad with an aggressive $499 price point, Amazon has introduced a compelling alternative at an aggressive price point supported by an extensive library of digital content and powerful cloud functionality.”
Contact Venkatraman at 617-353-7117; venkat@bu.edu; Twitter: @nvenkatatraman
