Seller of all things Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced the launch of four new Fire tablets on Thursday, September 18th. The least expensive of the new line — a 6″ Fire HD — can be snapped up for as little as $99.
6-inch Kindle Fire HD
Analysts say Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) may gain some market share with its new 6-inch version of the Kindle Fire HD tablet priced at $100, less than half the price of its current 7-inch tablet. This new tablet looks a lot like what people expected from Amazon’s smartphone; good enough for many people and priced much lower than premium devices.
Of note, Amazon has launched a version of the device aimed specifically at children. If you pony up an additional $50, the company will include a thick case, will replace the tablet if broken over the next two years, and includes one year of FreeTime Unlimited, a subscription service for children’s content with both videos and books.
Expanding the Amazon ecosphere
A core part of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s business model is to sell devices at cost and make money on content over time. In this case, however, several of Amazon’s new devices include software that makes it easier to access content without paying for it.
In addition to the free subscriptions to children’s content, the new tablets include a new featured named Family Library, which lets family members link up their Amazon accounts and gain access to media the others have bought. Amazon’s previous “sharing”option could only be used for certain titles and just gave borrowers access to the content for 14 days. According to Peter Larsen, vice president of Amazon devices, once the accounts are linked up, those using the new Family Library will be able to share any Kindle book for any amount of time.
