Every time some company ships a touch tablet, the press immediately compares it to the Apple iPad.
“Motorola Xoom Android Tablet May Be First iPad Killer,” enthused MSNBC.com back in January.
As it becomes clear that Amazon’s long-awaited tablet is really an Android-based Kindle optimized for buying things from Amazon.com, some headlines are suggesting that it’s not a competitor to the iPad after all, but just a glorified eBook reader.
“No Worries, iPad, Amazon’s Android Tablet Is Just a Nook-Killer,” said Forbes.com.
These headlines have it all wrong. The upcoming Amazon tablet not only competes directly against the iPad, it’s the only tablet that does so.
No other company besides Apple and Amazon are selling tablets as part of a larger strategy to control the future of music, movies, TV shows, books and more.
Read the rest of the story here.
(Picture courtesy of WIRED.)
30 responses to “Why Amazon’s Tablet is the Only iPad Competitor”
It’s all about the infrastructure, baby…
and Amazon has that. There is a solidity to their brand name. The user experience will(should) be good as Amazon offers a one stop shop. All their services fit well with tablet and ever mirror or surpass Apple’s.
Time will tell, but a $250 Amazon tablet will sell very well… just think how many orders they could rack up with a $100-$50 off Black Friday deal.
Reading your headline, I was thinking “you’re crazy”, but you make a good point. Apple didn’t conquer the phone/mp3/tablet market by just making awesome products; they completely changed how we consume media with those devices.
However, this device already looks outdated. There won’t be any “iPad killers”. Just like there are no “iPod killers”. The devices will reign at the top until a new form of device comes out, and then people will try to create a killer for that too. You don’t really see companies trying to compete with the iPod anymore.. Apple won. Apple is winning in the tablet market, and they seem to be on their way to the laptop market as well.
I’m thrilled that Amazon is coming out with a color tablet after putting up with them whining about the Kindle’s advantage with its lack of color (better readability, battery life in most situations).
I’ve been saying Amazon is Apple’s biggest threat for awhile now, but unless they change the forma factor of the Kindle no one will want to carry that over an iPad. I understand that I could ignite the whole form-over-function war again, but seriously, our technology is just too good to carry around an ugly hunk of plastic.
This is about the Amazon tablet rumored to come out this fall. Should be a heavily skinned wifi Android 8″ tablet with all the Amazon services build in. Kindle is a whole different creature.
Cheap plastic + Any Android OS = FAIL!! Hopefully it will only take a few more of these FAILS before the “genius” tech-bloggers stop talking about this crap! How many ways can a “new” device SUCK? (let me count the ways): UI = sucks, UX = sucks, apps = suck, OS = sucks, build = sucks, overall experience = sucks, number of options (apps) = sucks! How many is that so far, I can keep going (NO ecosystem, crappy browser, lacks a refined feel & is REAL confusing!) lol! Anyone that uses these things, have nothing to complain about in public! Keep it to yourselves. Suckers!
Don’t forget phones. They’ll own that one too! (if they don’t already)
One thing everyone on here is ignoring is the fact that Amazon never reports their sales numbers! Getting excited about their future success is ridiculous. Any positive they report should be taken with a grain of salt. No numbers = FAIL.
Personally I can’t see myself buying into another ecosystem :)
I’ve been saying this before Amazon said they were going to do one – they are THE ONLY competent competitor in the tablet arena without question.
As an Apple fan there’s a lot to like about Amazon – they were the original online innovator in terms of making a real and significant change in the way we all looked at online retail and they are still doing interesting things. They don’t tend to get into public slanging matches (which I like) and they do what they do (in general) very well.
And here’s why their pad will be great (not necessarily bleeding edge technical spec wise – but that’s a asshole’s metric isn’t it?) Amazon have, not just customers, but customers who like using them and keep coming back – much like Apple’s customer base.
My 80+ year old granddad has a MacBook and loves shopping on Amazon. He trusts Amazon and likes the service and how much choice they have. I use Amazon, my mother uses it, in fact most people I know have and do use Amazon. This is the defining factor in how their tablet will be taken up by people wanting a slice of the Tablet experience without the Apple price tag. In fact, they won’t see it as being a compromise, if anything they will see it as a positive choice over Apple’s iPad offering because they will understand the Amazon proposition and feel comfortable with it and it will be affordable. They’ll sell them in ASDA, in piles like the Kindle, the uptake will be swift and their competition will be kicked in the nuts quicker than they can do a HP fire sale. Apple will take a hit but the Android tablets will take a harder hit.
So, from this Apple fan I say come on Amazon, bring it on, Keep Apple on their toes, sweep all the crap out of the Android market and let’s see where this goes. Good times.
agreed.
Competition? This is another case of vaporware vs. reality, Mike. Link bait at best. Amazon’s tablet, whenever it arrives, might be competition for the iPad, but it’s not competition now. Why not? I tried to buy one and could not. End. Of. Story.
Remember when the Zune was supposed to be the iPod killer? Remember when Palm’s webOS would be the iPhone killer? Remember when the ‘free and open’ Android would be the iPhone killer? Remember when Windows Phone 7 would be the iPhone killer? Remember when the Galaxy Tab would be the iPad killer? Remember when the Xoom would be the iPad killer? Remember when HPs latest and greatest (I can’t remember their names) would be the iPhone and iPad killer?
True competition requires a little time to develop (HP, I’m looking’ at you). For a new product to supplant a reigning product, it must provide a compelling reason to buy, a clear and present differentiation that’s obvious to the average user.
Clear and present differentiation is not Android’s multi-tasking vs. iOS multi-tasking. Who cares? It’s unimportant to most users.
An Amazon tablet that did everything an iPad does, but is priced at $199 might be successful because the cost is clearly a factor. Or, an Amazon tablet that does everything better than an iPad does, but priced the same, might be successful, because everyone can see that it does more.
Where does that leave the Amazon tablet? It’s vaporware.
Nook Color Android-based tablet/eReader from Barnes & Noble has been on the market for over a year and sold millions of units at $250. Gives Flash, apps, videos, color magazines and ebooks with video inserts, and the best anti-glare coated screen on the market. Technology “leader” Amazon is finally catching up with the book store company by copying their device.
Kindle only supports eBooks in its proprietary AZW format. Nook, on the other hand, supports both DRM-protected and DRM-free ebooks in ePub format thus it supports ebooks from B&N store, from any other DRM-free source on the web, and from public libraries.
If you walk in with the Nook to Barnes & Noble store, you’re allowed to read any available eBook for free while in the store via free provided in the store Wi-Fi.
Nook Color has several apps that already come with the device (Pandora Internet radio, QuickOffice, etc.) and hundreds of other apps are available for download. Also, you can use the Social Settings screen to link your NOOK Color to your Facebook account and your Twitter account. You can also import all your contacts from your Google Gmail account. Once you have linked to Facebook and Twitter and set up email contacts, you can lend and borrow books, recommend books, and share favorite quotes with your friends.
Have they even announced this tablet or told us anything about it other than it will run Android.
I certainly don’t recall anything being said and until we know specs it’s hard to say with any certainty if they are competent in making a tablet that can complete with the iPad or anything else.
That said, I will give you that they are the only group with the content and purchasing tools in place to have a good at the iTunes stores and that is a huge issue to overcome. Plus they have the level of customer base for that content that can compete with Apple’s millions of users.
But on the issue of the tablet itself, there’s not enough information yet to make that call
Course this whole issue is ZERO of what Mike’s article is about. He’s not actually looking at the tablet or the iPad at all but actually why the heck Amazon would be doing something like this in the first place which is the same strategy that he feels was behind the creation of the iPad. Driving sales to each companies online content and through that perhaps into other things they sell. Which might be Amazon’s idea but I question, given that the iPad has other features than just an ebook reader and media player for iTunes purchased stuff, if Mike is right about Apple. But that’s a debate for another day
SHOULD or COULD are strong words.
You could be right. If Amazon really wants to compete against the iPad they should go the way you suggest.
But are they, we don’t know. Their tablet could in fact end up being basically a Kindle with a media player that only works with Amazon video and music files and Android apps bought through Amazon (which won’t be so bad if they take the same careful control as Apple does with the quality, lack of malware etc)