For some time, Apple’s iPad has been the foil of the Amazon Kindle e-reader. First, the pokes at reading in bright sunlight, then the geeks versus average person ad. Most recently, however, the Seattle-based online retailer has created an App Store – but for Android. All that was missing was an actual tablet. Now it appears the two companies will compete head-to-head amid a report Amazon is building a tablet PC.
Amazon has placed orders with Taiwan-based notebook manufacturer Quanta Computer, which now makes tablets for RIM and Sony, to supply around 700,000 to 800,000 tablets per month as soon as the second half of this year, according to a Tuesday report. Taking a page from Apple, Amazon also plans to buy a touch screen manufacturer’s full capacity.
The new tablet is viewed as Amazon’s answer to the iPad 2. The bookseller appears to be preparing a two-prong strategy: cut the Kindle’s price (already underway using ad-supported devices) to attract the education and consumer market outside of North America and Europe, then use the tablet to compete with Apple and Barnes & Noble, which makes a tablet-version of the Nook e-reader.
