Amazon to sell Android tablet for $249?

While there’s still no official announcement for the Android tablet from Amazon, analysts have already started speculating about how much Amazon will be selling the tablets at. And according to Creative Strategies analyst, Tim Barjarin, Amazon might be selling its debut tablet for $249. From his “guestimates”, Amazon will be manufacturing the tablets for $300 each, but will be selling them at an even cheaper price to broaden its customer base. Amazon will then rely on the content sales (apps, books, music etc) to make up for the losses. This is a business model that not unlike game consoles, where money is lost upfront on the hardware.That sure sounds like a plan that only a large company like Amazon could pull off, but it’s hard to tell if it may succeed, considering that there is nothing concrete about the tablets yet. Let’s not forget that there are a lot of tablets that are considered to be cheaper alternatives to the world’s best-selling tablet, the iPad – and they’re not exactly flying off the shelves. Secondly, is Amazon really willing to bank its recuperation of losses through people purchasing apps/content? Many people don’t purchase apps and usually rely on free alternatives whenever it’s possible. This may prove difficult, although not impossible.

Also, with no concrete evidence about what hardware will be going into the tablet, it’s a bit farfetched to give an estimate about how much the tablet will cost to manufacture, let alone how much Amazon will sell it for. Just a heads up for you guys so you don’t get disappointed when the tablet goes on sale at a much higher price…provided the tablets actually go on sale in the first place.

George Wong
Categories: Tablets
Tags: Amazon, Android, price, sales, Tablet