Barclays predicts that Kindle Fire sales, though going stupendously well, will be exceeded by Kindle reader sales in 2012. Though Kindle Fire comes at an attractive sub $200 price, the Kindle readers (starting from $79) are too good a bargain. The bank predicts sales of 15.3million Kindle Fire tabs next year, and 23.5million Kindle eReaders.
Barclay has included the 10inch Android tablet expected from Amazon next year in its tablet predictions. The bank believes Amazon will subsidize the cost of the device, the way it has done with Kindle Fire. There will be considerable pressure on Amazon’s margins next year as it invests in expansion, fulfillment center build-outs, and content acquisition from video providers.
According to Barclay, Amazon will sell 4.5million tabs in Q4 2011; 14% of Amazon’s 2012 revenue will come from eReader, tablet, and associated media sales; digital content sales will exceed the retailer’s hardware revenue by 2013; and media consumed on tablets and eReaders will form 45% of Amazon’s total revenue by end of 2014.
Meanwhile, Amazon has dedicated Seesaw LLC, a company based in Delaware, for the production of Kindle Fire and other tablets, the way Lab126 manages the production of E Ink Kindle hardware. Five US trademark filings have been attributed to Seesaw. Amazon’s reasons could include easier direct investment in Kindle Fire, making the group independent of Amazon’s main online retail business, and also warding off legal troubles in case Apple chooses to sue them too.
If you are an Android developer and want to get your app on Kindle Fire, get on with it. Apps should be approved some time before the release date of November 15. Your app should conform to Amazon’s rules for the device: full screen resolution not exceeding 1004x600p; Android 2.3.4 support; should not access Google Mobile Services, gyroscope, microphone, camera, Bluetooth, GPS, WAN module, or microSD card; and can access accelerometer, light sensor, landscape and portrait mode switching, USB accessories, Wi-Fi connectivity, and multi-touch input.
[via paidContent, electronista]
