Amazon.com Inc.
(
AMZN
) has recently announced the shipping of its 8.9 inch Kindle Fire
high-definition (HD), a little earlier than the scheduled date.
This is a strategically conceived time for shipping, just ahead
of the peak holiday shopping season.
Priced at $299, the 8.9 inch Kindle Fire HD comes with dual
band Wi-Fi connectivity and MIMO technology that enables
streaming and downloading videos at a faster pace. The model
features a 1,920x1,200 HD display with 254ppi, as well as a
front-facing HD camera.
The new Kindle Fire HD also has an X-Ray feature, which will
provide useful insight about books or movies to the users.
Besides, Kindle Fire HD will also include an upgraded version of
Immersion Reading that will allow the user to hear narration by a
popular actor while reading a book.
The tablet can be ordered at Amazon's site or at
Best Buy Inc.
(
BBY
). It will also be available at other retail chains in the coming
weeks.
Additionally, the company expects to start shipping the LTE
version of the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD tablet to next week. This
version is available with a 4G LTE data package that costs $49.99
for the first year of service.
The tablet market is getting more and more competitive.
Apple
Inc.
(
AAPL
) leads the race so far in this market, but Amazon's lower-priced
Kindle Fire has also seen very strong demand. Other players like
Google
(
GOOG
) and
Microsoft
(
MSFT
) have also stepped in to grab a share of the pie.
We view Amazon's expansion into the tablet market as a
defensive move, designed to protect its leading share of the
e-reader market and maintain sales of books and other digital
products through the Kindle platform. Even if Amazon does not
make big money from tablets, it will increase the number of
customers buying and streaming content from Amazon through the
product, thus increasing its revenue.
At the same time, we think there is a certain amount of
uncertainty regarding Amazon's investment plans, which could
continue over the next few quarters. While it is true that these
investments are going to drive the next phase of its growth,
near-term earnings will remain under pressure.
Currently, Amazon has a Zacks #4 Rank, which implies a Sell
rating in the near term.
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