Monday, December 5, 2011

Possible Fast Fall of Kindle Fire

Here is a thought on Kindle Fire why it may encounter a sudden death. The reasoning here is not so much regarding technology and I'm quite sure this is not just my internal thought but can be observed much broadly.

The low price point will most definitely attract many customers and quickly expand its user base. But when you hear from people, like literally in person, the reason for choosing Fire, many mention because it's cheap and that is the primary reason. These people are "investors" who are investing very little money just for trial and see if they get lucky with an unexpected return; i.e., they're not committed and will withdraw quick if they see it undesirable. With such investors as a majority, any mistake can be devastating for Amazon; or perhaps it's already a failed product, unless it was intended to be a low-end cheap better-than-nothing device.

On the other hand, Apple's iPad may get their market share nibbled away, but won't be a struggle to keep it's loyal user base. These investors have put a lot into it and are expecting a steady return; they're committed and won't be giving up easily. Again, I've talked to these investors, literally plural, and they've waited on their own time until it was justifiable, had a strategy and were even willing to replace their laptops. Laptops are something else these people have been investing on for a long time and has been a solid investment. When this is starting to shift, this is some serious thing.