Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has been bombarded with criticisms from customers in different forums last week, when the company said that customers have no option to turn off advertisements on their devices.
The company responded to the criticisms, and decided to give customers the option to opt out of the advertisements but they need to pay additional $15.
A report from Los Angeles Times quoted a statement from Kinsley Pearsall, spokesperson for Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). According to Pearsall, “We know from our Kindle reader line that customers love our special offers and very few people choose to opt out. We are happy to offer customers the choice.”
The Seattle-based online retailer, launched its new line of Kindle Fire mobile devices during an event in Los Angeles last week. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) showed off its new devices with cheaper prices compared to the tablets offered by its competitors such as Apple’s Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad.
The price of Amazon’s new Kindle Fire tablets ranges from $159 to $599. The company offers discounts to customers who want advertisements to appear on their screen savers. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) will also run special offers on the screen when users lock their tablets. The company is offering $20 discount to consumers on Kindle e-reader with advertisements.
Jezz Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon said last week that the company might lose money or break even on the sale of its Kindle Fire devices. This is nothing new, as Amazon’s revenue has been rapidly increasing over the past few years, while margins have stagnated. Amazon hopes to recover and generate revenues in the future through the sale of apps, e-books and other services including its $79 Prime fast-shipping membership.
The company will start shipping its first batch of new Kindle Fire HDs by the end of this week. The 16 GB Kindle Fire HD costs $199, while the 32 GB is worth $249. The device is equipped with 7-inch display, Dolby audio and dual driver speakers, dual band, dual antenna WiFi, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor with Imagination PowerVR 3D graphics core. for fast and fluid performance, integrated support for users to access their Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Twitter accounts. The device also supports Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Google’s Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) e-mail services. The device also features free Skype video calls with front facing HD camera and free unlimited cloud storage for all content.
In other Amazon news, PiperJaffary is reporting today; For the month of August, ChannelAdvisor sales for Amazon saw a sequential deceleration to 41% y/y from 44% in July and 46% in the June quarter. We believe ChannelAdvisor’s same-store sales are in line with our September quarter North American revenue estimates of 27% y/y, a deceleration from 36% in the June quarter.
