According to the New York Post (via BGR), Amazon is getting ready to launch their rumored Android-powered tablets with a price tag “hundreds less” than Apple’s current $499 base model iPad 2. “Hundreds less” sounds a lot like $299.
The devices, expected to launch sometime in October, will more than likely be the result of the entry-level tablet codenamed “Coyote” and it’s pro-model counterpart the NVIDIA T30 Kal-El powered “Hollywood”. We told you about these devices back in May, which will most likely be powered by a highly customized Amazon version of Android (bringing with it Amazon services like the Appstore, Kindle eBook store, Amazon Videos, music and possibly brought together by the Cloud Drive).
Amazon is clearly prepping a huge move into the tablet market. We reported this week that the company signed up a third touch panel supplier, and that was after recently becoming the second largest buyer of tablet-related parts – without yet having released a tablet.
Lead analyst at Pund-IT Charles King told New York Post he thinks “If Amazon is particularly aggressive on pricing, that could be a trigger for many players to rethink the sales price of tablets”. Amazon isn’t the only company planning on taking a share of the tablet market by going after the bottom-tier. Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanquing recently told FinancialTimes his plans for undercutting the iPad’s price point.
“Apple only covers the top tier,” he says. “With a $500 price you cannot go to the small cities, townships, low salary class, low income class. I don’t want to say we want to significantly lower the price, rather our strategy is to provide more categories, to cover different market segments.”
Could rumors of a potential entry-level model iPhone (expected alongside a next-gen iPhone 5 this fall) give us insight into Apple’s future plans to give the iPad the same treatment and compete with upcoming low price point Android tablets?
Cross-posted on 9to5Mac.com
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