Kindle Fire Grabs Over 50% of the US Android Market

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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What do you call the most popular Android tablet in the US? Well, for one, you call it a Kindle Fire and technically, it’s not a tablet; it’s an e-reader. Sales of the Kindle Fire have grown steadily since its debut into the marketplace in November 2011 to almost 55% of the total market and still climbing.

Kindle Fire's best feature is its ability as an e-book reader, according to reviewers. It is much more, however. For a list price of $199, customers get a seven-inch display, 8GB of RAM, free storage on Amazon's cloud, WiFi and USB connections.
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They'd sell even more of these things if the opened up a little bit. Also, I think prime should give you more than one ebook a month to rent.
 
Steampunk said:
They'd sell even more of these things if the opened up a little bit. Also, I think prime should give you more than one ebook a month to rent.
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Regarding opening up.

They are selling these things at a pretty large loss, hoping to make back their money through locking people into THEIR ebook sales rather than their competitors.

This is why they are interested in keeping them locked down. They absolutely do not want people to buy them and then to use competitors stores.

In order to sell them unlocked they would have to be sold at a much higher price point, and then people probably wouldn't want them compared to other 7" tablets out there.

That being said, it's an incredible opportunity for modders who want a 7" tablet.

There is an XDA port of CyanogenMod 9 that reportedly works pretty well on these devices. I have considered getting one just for this purpose. (IMHO, if you offer a loss leader, you deserve to lose money)
 
Zarathustra[H];1038663811 said:
Regarding opening up.

They are selling these things at a pretty large loss, hoping to make back their money through locking people into THEIR ebook sales rather than their competitors.

This is why they are interested in keeping them locked down. They absolutely do not want people to buy them and then to use competitors stores.

In order to sell them unlocked they would have to be sold at a much higher price point, and then people probably wouldn't want them compared to other 7" tablets out there.

That being said, it's an incredible opportunity for modders who want a 7" tablet.

There is an XDA port of CyanogenMod 9 that reportedly works pretty well on these devices. I have considered getting one just for this purpose. (IMHO, if you offer a loss leader, you deserve to lose money)
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It's similar to the Nook Color in those regards as well. The Nook Color was a pretty typical Android tablet (when it released) that has been hampered by its software. I am running CM9 on one and while it's anything but peppy (and the horrible touch detection makes it even worse) it is a decent tablet for what it is, which is a low-end and fairly light tablet.
 
Zarathustra[H];1038663811 said:
Regarding opening up.

They are selling these things at a pretty large loss, hoping to make back their money through locking people into THEIR ebook sales rather than their competitors.

This is why they are interested in keeping them locked down. They absolutely do not want people to buy them and then to use competitors stores.

In order to sell them unlocked they would have to be sold at a much higher price point, and then people probably wouldn't want them compared to other 7" tablets out there.

That being said, it's an incredible opportunity for modders who want a 7" tablet.

There is an XDA port of CyanogenMod 9 that reportedly works pretty well on these devices. I have considered getting one just for this purpose. (IMHO, if you offer a loss leader, you deserve to lose money)
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I have thought of getting on as well, but the galaxy tab 2 7.0 seems like a much better deal in my opinion. So if you want a tablet and want it to run ICS with out a hassle then I would just get the aforementioned tablet, anyways there are allot of things that make it stand out from the Fire.
 
coldtortilla said:
Oh by the way there is not 8 GB of RAM on this device.
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They are talking about storge memory not system memory. Though you only have about 6ish (if memory serves) by the time the OS and all other standard programs are installed - you never have 8 gig free.
 
Cm9 works real well on the device, rooting and everything else is cake if you want the google market and everything else as well. You can even install google market on default OS too.
 
I got one when they came out and yea it's great for reading books which I do, but it also browses the internet well and plays a hell of alot of apps as well. It's pretty good for $200. Also Amazon has updated it fairly consistently and it's gotten speeder as a result. Now, the Samsung Galaxy tab 2 7.0 for $250 is quite nice also.:D
 
As a tablet, seems like a decent deal, although a used iPad1/2 might be something to consider...
As a straight eReader, the new Nook SimpleColor w/Glowlight looks like a better option.

Looks like the most fun option for OS tweakers, though.
 
it's too bad other tablet makers just can't compete.

this is the ideal price for a tablet, but there is no profit
 
I don't have a Kindle Fire, but I do have a Kindle 2. What I like most about it is the battery life, seems like the thing lasts forever. It can literally go 2-3 weeks of casual use without needing to be recharged. Not really ideal for web surfing or anything like that, but for reading ebooks, they're great.
 
I also love the e-ink style. It just seems to me the original Kindles were very very well made for ebook reading.
 
I just bought a used Kindle Fire off Cl for $140 and now I see what all the fuss is about. When my Fire and my wife's iPad are sitting next to each I always go for the Fire. A 7" tablet is just the right size. I'm not much of an app person so not having the google market isn't a big deal but I am a big internet user and the Silk browser is actually very good. I was surprised that I liked this tablet this much because I don't even really like tablets all that much..
 
shoota said:
I just bought a used Kindle Fire off Cl for $140 and now I see what all the fuss is about. When my Fire and my wife's iPad are sitting next to each I always go for the Fire. A 7" tablet is just the right size. I'm not much of an app person so not having the google market isn't a big deal but I am a big internet user and the Silk browser is actually very good. I was surprised that I liked this tablet this much because I don't even really like tablets all that much..
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I grabbed one of those HP Touchpads during the Firesale. I ended up selling it after I bought a Blackberry Playbook (mostly the same hardware as the Fire but a lot more bells and whistles) because at 7", it was just about perfect in size, weight, portability. 10" tablets generally handle too big to feel like something you can just throw in a bag (like you throw your phone into your pocket)... but the HP Touchpad's 4:3 aspect made it a beast on top of that.

I'd probably say an 8" screen with minimal bezel would put the tablet right into 'perfect size' territory.
 
I think knowing what RAM is should be a requirement for writing about tech.
 
Finally got around to buying a Fire for my wife for her birthday. She loves it and I've played with it, but if I had to choose I would take my 32GB Touchpad (with ICS) every day. 7" is just too small in my opinion for web browsing. I actually like reading books on my touchpad more than the Fire also. Of course that may be because I usually read technical books, which fit better on a 10" screen than a 7".

Media consumption is also huge difference for me. Watching TV episodes and movies on her Fire just seems too small. My Touchpad is perfect to me for proping up on the plane while traveling, or setting it on my desk at work to watch during lunch (or while I work on slow days).

As for fitting in a bag, I don't have any problems with a 10" tablet sliding in my backpack along with my work laptop. The Fire works great for her though because it fits in her purse where a 10" tablet wouldn't.
 
ekuest said:
is this a real thing or did you make it up in your brian?
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First option again? :D Brain fried yesterday. Just sent my dad an e-mail about the Nook Simple Touch w/Glowlight. He has a Nook Color.

The LCD readers are not good/terrible for reading in high sunlight. eInk is not great for reading at night. eInk plus light for solid day and night reading.
 
dr.kevin said:
it's too bad other tablet makers just can't compete.

this is the ideal price for a tablet, but there is no profit
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If Amazon were just selling a tablet tgey couldn't compete at this price point either.

They are selling it at a pretty large loss and hoping that by locking in users to their ebook ecosystem (rather than Apples or Barnes and Nobles) they can make that money back.

It's similar to the inkjet printer model, where the printers are sold at a loss and all the money is made on the cartridges.

No company that is selling an open piece of hardware will be able to compete at this price point.
 
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