New Amazon Tablets And Fire TV Heat Up Competition

The rivalry between Apple and Amazon is gradually increasing as the e-commerce company launched four new Amazon tablets along with three TV-related devices. The new devices offered by Amazon appear to be a part of the preparations of the company for the upcoming holiday shopping season.

Two new high-definition tablets and a budget tablet are among the new devices offered by the company. On the other hand, the TV-related devices the company launched include a 4K ultra HD television set-top box, a video-streaming device featuring a remote control using voice search, and a game controller.

Amazon devices head David Limp said the company is aiming to compete directly with Apple in the television market. While the two companies appear to be embroiled in a rivalry, their approaches in the consumer electronics market are not the same. Apple is offering high-end, costly devices while Amazon is offering low-priced tablets for budget-conscious users.

A recent stress test conducted by Amazon in Sunnyvale, California, an Amazon tablet appeared to remain essentially unscathed. In comparison, the screen of an Apple iPad Air was shattered. The situation highlights the competition between the two companies.

The main objective of Amazon in offering hardware is to encourage consumers to purchase items from its marketplace. On the other hand, Apple is simply selling high-cost hardware to consumers. While this is the bread-and-butter of the tech giant, it also offers services and software to consumers.

Creative Strategies president Tim Bajarin said competition at the services level is gradually increasing.

New Promotion For Amazon Tablets - image credit: engadget.com

In the television market, the latest TV products of Apple were launched through a live broadcast from the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. In contrast, Amazon launched the Fire TV by inviting reporters to a rented house in the North Beach neighborhood. The company wanted to showcase its television offering inside a living room.

The latest television products of Amazon will feature an integrated voice control by next year. The feature facilitates navigation and playing or resuming programs. The Alexa software of the company will be used on these devices. It is similar to the Siri of Apple, Google Now of Google and Cortana of Microsoft.

However, Apple beat Amazon to the punch when it came to the integration of voice search into television products. The feature was exhibited by Apple through its new set-top box, which had Siri as its main feature. The Android TV platform of Google also utilizes a voice search feature.

In the tablet market, Limp did not emphasize the competition since its tablet market does not overlap its rivals. But, the two companies are essentially offering tablets in a market, which is experiencing a decline in the past year.

A reasonably-priced $50 Amazon tablet illustrates the low-end strategy of the company. One promotion of the company offers six $50 Amazon tablets for the price of five. This comes in its own six-pack casing. This is quite the opposite for Apple, which launched its most expensive tablet offering, the iPad Pro. The supersized tablet has a base price of $800 and can go up to over $1,000 if it is purchased with a stylus and keyboard.

In addition to the $50 Amazon tablet, the company is also offering a $230 10.1-inch high-definition tablet as well as a $150 8-inch tablet. A $100 Kids Edition Amazon tablet features a child-friendly access to the internet. Users are limited to around 20,000 age-appropriate YouTube videos and websites. The Word Runner was also introduced by the company. It is a speed-reading tool integrated into the reading apps of the tablet.

Although the tablet market has been dominated by the Apple iPad, Amazon tablets have created a niche of its own since it offers budget-friendly devices. These tablets have plastic backs and offer limited features. But, the strategy of the company in offering low-priced tablets allowed it to sell millions of devices to consumers who are turned off by the high price of the Apple iPad.

Posted by Melanie Mendoza on Saturday September 19 2015, 8:01 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Shopping. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0