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TECHNOLOGY A23
Friday 18 September 2015
Amazon dangles $50 tablet computer to hook more consumers
In this Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015, photo, Amazon’s new $50 Fire tablet is displayed next to a six-pack of them and assorted warranty if it’s broken for
colored cases in San Francisco. Amazon.com is introducing the $50 tablet computer in its latest attempt to boost its online store any reason. It will sell for
sales by luring consumers who can’t afford more expensive Internet-connected devices made by Apple and other rivals. $100.
Pre-orders for the tablet will
Associated Press begin Thursday, with ship-
ments expected in two
MICHAEL LIEDTKE Fire HD alternatives, let priced tablets, the new Fire Amazon is hoping that the weeks.
AP Technology Writer alone the top-selling iPad device will show ads on its low price of the new tab- Amazon also unveiled up-
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — line. screen saver. Avoiding the let will be so appealing dates to larger, more ex-
Amazon is dangling a $50 But the Seattle company is ads will cost an additional that people will stock up pensive tablets and its de-
tablet computer in its latest counting on the new tab- $15. on the devices and have vices for streaming Internet
attempt to lure consumers let’s low price to encour- The discount tablet will de- them scattered around the video to television sets as
who can’t afford or don’t age more people to buy a but amid a slump in the sale house. it gears up to battle Apple
want the more expensive device that will hook them of the devices. The down- As a prod, it plans to sell a and other gadget makers
Internet-connected de- on watching video, read- turn suggests consumers six-pack of the 7-inch Fire for the flurry of electronics
vices made by Apple and ing books, playing games who already own a tablet tablets for the price of five, sales that typically accom-
other rivals. and shopping on a com- see little need to upgrade or $250. panies the holiday shop-
The 7-inch Fire tablet un- puter that’s easy to carry and those that don’t have Although the new tablet is ping season.
veiled Thursday marks wherever they go. one either aren’t interest- cheap, Limp boasted it is far Apple got the jump on
Amazon’s most aggressive In the process, Amazon is ing in the devices or can’t superior to other discount Amazon last week when
attempt yet to undercut hoping consumers will buy afford one. tablets that are “something it showed off its latest
Apple, which has been the more digital goods and Apple’s iPad sales have you wouldn’t want to give iPhone, an iPad with a 12-
market leader since its first merchandise from its store been declining since 2013, your worst enemy, let alone inch screen and a long-
iPad went on sale five years while also subscribing to its spurring the company to a family member or a kid.” delayed update of its TV-
ago. The least expensive $100-per-year Prime service take aim at selling more of Amazon is promising the streaming box for Internet
iPad Mini, which has an that offers a mix of videos, its tablets to corporate cus- discount tablet will have video and music.
8-inch screen, currently sells music and free shipping. tomers and government decent processing power, Amazon tried to counter
for $270. “Our tablet focus is in and agencies. Industrywide, good color saturation and the iPhone’s popularity with
Amazon.com Inc. isn’t around content consump- worldwide sales of tablets seven hours of battery life. its own smartphone last
trying to persuade any- tion,” said David Limp, Am- are expected to fall 8 per- A more durable version de- year, but it never caught
one that its cheap tablet azon’s senior vice president cent this year, according signed for kids will come on. The company no lon-
matches the quality of its of devices. to the research firm Inter- with a blue or pink bumper ger sells its Fire phone,
own sleeker, higher-priced As with its previous low- national Data Corp. and a 2-year replacement though it’s still available in
other online stores.
Despite that the phone’s
flop, Limp insisted “there’s
a lot of good things hap-
pening across (Amazon’s)
device business.”
The company’s holiday
line-up includes a more
durable 8-inch Fire HD
tablet with faster process-
ing speeds than last year’s
model that will sell at pric-
es beginning at $150. An
upgraded 10-inch Fire HD
tablet will sell for $230, or 42
percent less than the least
expensive $400 iPad with a
comparable display size.
Amazon is adding a re-
mote control with a voice-
activated search option
to its Fire stick for Internet
video streaming.
The streaming stick will sell
for $50, up from $40 for
last year’s version without
voice-recognition technol-
ogy.
Amazon’s Fire TV box will
now be able stream ultra
HD video with technolo-
gy that is also supposed to
deliver a better picture to
screens with standard HD,
too. It will sell for $100 com-
pared with $150 for the
new Apple TV box sched-
uled to go on sale at the
end of next month.q
