The Wall Street Journal came out with a report that Amazon is going to release an ultra-cheap tablet to appeal to a much wider but budget-conscious market. The recent flop that was the Amazon Fire smartphone may have given Amazon bad marks, but the incredibly affordable soon-to-be Fire tablet might be the key to invigorating the company's foray into the oversaturated smart device market.
The new tablet is going to be 6-inches and many of its components will be outsourced. This may have ruffled feathers within Amazon's in-house hardware unit, Lab 126, but was the only way to reach a $50 tablet, ZDNet reports.
Overseas firms such as Shanghai Huaqin Telecom Technology Co. and Taiwan-based Compal Communications were tasked with the development of the new Fire tablet. Compal has collaborated with Apple and HP in the past. Representatives of both companies have declined to comment on the development of the new Fire tablet.
The move is a risky one as tablet markets have not seen growth in years. Also, owners of higher end tablets are clearly not impressed with Amazon's decision to downgrade. However, there is a sizable number of people who view tablets as luxury items. This demographic, Amazon hopes, will be the key to bringing life back into the tablet market.
And while many other tablet makers already offer products at $50 or less, none of them have the branding that Amazon carries. Amazon customer service is also expected to draw in buyers who would, otherwise, not trust a $50 tablet.
To serve as comparison, Amazon's current cheapest Fire tablet is 6-inches and sells for $99 with ads as screensavers. A $114 version is also available without the ads. Even the Amazon Kindle costs more at $79. As of yet, there is no official word on the status of the new Fire tablets in terms of mandatory ads.
