Kindle Fire Announced – But You Had Better Order Early!
They will be selling out, just as the original Kindle did. If you want one, get in line now!
Amazon’s $199 Fire sparks supply, margin questions
“(Reuters) – The rock-bottom price of the new Kindle Fire tablet computer is raising questions about Amazon.com Inc’s ability to keep up with demand and the device’s effect on the company’s already razor-thin profit margins.
Amazon’s billionaire Chief Executive Jeff Bezos unveiled the Fire on Wednesday at a lower-than-expected price of $199.
Bezos said Amazon is making ‘millions’ of the tablets, without being more specific. However, he urged customers to pre-order the device early.
‘When Bezos quipped that people should get their pre-orders in quick, that wasn’t just a sales pitch,’ said Brian Blair, an analyst at Wedge Partners. ‘That was him warning this will sell out.’
When the first Kindle came out in 2007, Amazon hadn’t made enough and the e-reader sold out in less than a week. That meant the company missed out on sales and got the device into fewer customers’ hands, limiting quick adoption.
‘I hope they learned their lesson from the last time,’ said Vinita Jakhanwal, an analyst at IHS iSuppli, which tracks electronic component supply chains.
Amazon spokeswomen didn’t respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Amazon has lined up about four to five million screens for the Fire in the fourth quarter, which is a ‘fairly significant’ amount, Jakhanwal added.
The technology that is being used for the Fire’s screen has been around for at least a year and already has been produced in high volume, reducing the chances of supply shortages, Jakhanwal said.
One of the components that was in shorter supply in the first half of 2011 was the 10-inch screen, mostly because of Apple Inc’s blockbuster-selling iPad, according to Bradley Gastwirth of technology research firm ABR Investment Strategy.”