Rich Fiscus
23 Sep 2011 16:38
It appears Amazon's rumored tablet could be unveiled at a press conference scheduled for next Wednesday.
The tablet, which is expected to run Android, could end up being the first serious competitor for Apple's iPad. Since its release last year, no tablet has even come close to the iPad's sales.
Although Apple has shown a willingness to use patent lawsuits to get the most promising competition taken off the market, right now it's not clear they have anything to worry about. If Amazon enters the tablet market, that could change quickly.
Invitations to Amazon's Wednesday press event were reportedly vague. Perhaps they're taking a play from the Apple playbook, figuring speculation among the media and blogosphere will generate more buzz than actual details.
Arguably, Apple has more to fear from Amazon than any other potential tablet maker. Amazon already has cloud services, streaming video, and a successful e-book store to attract customers.
Not to mention a huge customer base to tap from their Kindle reader.
With all that going for them, Amazon doesn't need to make money on the hardware to turn a profit. In the past they've shown a willingness to accept a loss in one area to turn a profit in another.