Amazon.com is expected to launch a new tablet on Thursday,
as the company is racing with Apple and Google to control
the market of internet-connected mobile devices.
Amazon is expected to announce a new version of its 7-inch
Kindle Fire at a press conference near Los Angeles. Rumors
say that a larger tablet may also be unveiled, along with
an update of the company's Kindle e-reader.
Amazon has been offering its products cheaper than others
as the company is wants to get the devices into as many
hands as possible, then sell higher-margin digital content,
such as e-books, video, games, apps and music. Last year,
Amazon surprised rivals by pricing its first tablet at
$199, well below Apple's iPad and less than most other
tablets at the time.
Since then, Google started selling its 7-inch Nexus 7
tablet for $199 with better specifications, while Barnes &
Noble cut the price of one of its Nook tablets to $179.
Microsoft's upcoming Surface tablet may also be priced
at $199.
The company has already cut the price of some of its
e-readers. The cheapest Kindle costs $79 with ads, while
the same version without ads is $109, according to Amazon's
website.
Amazon's mobile devices have been also popular among app
developers, who are are keen on the Kindle platform because
Amazon customers are used to paying for content and the
company's one-click payment system makes purchasing easy.