Are iPad component makers too busy fulfilling Apple orders to build any competitors? That’s appears to be the case for Amazon, where at least one parts maker may already be too busy churning out iPad displays to build a tablet version of the Kindle.
Although online retail giant Amazon wants to release at least one Android-based tablet by September, one major Apple touch panel supplier, TPK, “has been reluctant to make a commitment to supplying touch panels to Amazon,” concerned about capacity, according to unnamed insiders cited by an industry publication.
A second supplier, Wintek, apparently is also happy on the Apple gravy train and worried the company won’t be able to supply tablets for both the Cupertino, Calif. tech giant and Amazon, DigiTimes writes Thursday. The Kindle maker would like to ship 4 million tablets before the end of 2011, reports say.
Worries about timing the launch of a new tablet at a time when Apple has at least 60 percent of the market seem valid. However, Amazon received some good news recently when a Pew Research report found ownership of e-readers, like the Kindle, doubled from six percent to 12 percent in the last six months while tablet ownership rose by just three percent.
For suppliers, they may want to stick with Apple more than ever. The iPad and iPhone maker recently called on component makers to drop their prices by 10 percent, given all of the work the popular device maker has thrown their way.
All of these factors might make it very difficult indeed for Amazon to release a true Kindle tablet… and even more difficult for them to undercut the iPad in price.
