Foxconn may produce Amazon 10.1" tablet after having passed on Kindle Fire
After passing on orders for the new Kindle Fire from Amazon, Foxconn Electronics is believed to have won the contract to produce the Internet retailer's rumored 10.1-inch tablet and could begin shipping the device from factories by the end of the year, according to a new report.
Taiwan industry publication DigiTimes reported on Friday that industry sources claim Amazon will continue its long-term relationship with Foxconn by outsourcing production of its 10.1-inch tablets to the manufacturer. Amazon has historically hired Foxconn to build its Kindle e-readers, but the retailer went with Quanta for its new Kindle Fire touchscreen tablet, set to ship on Nov. 15.
Unveiled on Wednesday, the 7-inch Fire sells for $199 and is a "souped-up version" of the Kindle that is meant for media consumption through Amazon's ecosystem. Amazon Prime members can enjoy movie and TV show streaming on the tablet and users can purchase apps via Amazon Appstore. The Fire runs an older version of Google's Android operating system with a "fresh and easy-to-use interface" painted over Android's "rough surfaces."
According to the report, sources said Foxconn "decided not to take" orders for the Fire because it had been busy producing Apple's iPad. That's consistent with rumors that emerged in June that said the success of the iPad could place production constraints on Amazon.
Amazon instead turned to Quanta, which had produced Research in Motion's PlayBook tablet earlier in the year. The Fire bears a strikingly close resemblance to the PlayBook.
AppleInsider reported on Monday that, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the Kindle Fire is a transitional device meant to 'test the waters' ahead of Amazon's true tablet efforts that have been pushed back to next year. The 10.1-inch tablet is reportedly codenamed "Coyote" and is expected to arrive in early 2012. Amazon is also said to be readying an 8.9-inch tablet with an "amazing form factor" for the second half of next year.
Initial response to the Fire has been mixed. Analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray said the device is "not a true competitor, but more competitive than expected," while noting that Amazon is expected to lose about $50 per unit it sells. J.P. Morgan's Mark Moskowitz was unimpressed with the Fire, calling it "noise" and a stepping stone at best. Others, however, have hailed the device as an "iPad killer" that will undercut Apple's tablet on price.
Kuo estimates that Amazon will build 3 million Fires by the end of the year, but some industry watchers have expressed concerns that supply of the device will be tight this holiday season.
"When [Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos] quipped that people should get their pre-orders in quick, that wasn't just a sales pitch," Reuters reported Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair as saying "That was him warning this will sell out."
Amazon will benefit from using older technology and more readily available 7-inch screens, but may have trouble expanding its production and distribution capabilities. Rival Apple has leveraged its sophisticated operations to give it "a competitive advantage over Amazon, which may find it difficult to produce more than a few million Kindle Fires for the holiday season," Munster said on Wednesday.
In addition to the Fire, Amazon unveiled a $79 low-end Kindle without a keyboard and a Kindle Touch with multi-touch capability. Both devices continue to use e-ink displays and will be sold alongside the previous model, which has been renamed the Kindle Keyboard.
Taiwan industry publication DigiTimes reported on Friday that industry sources claim Amazon will continue its long-term relationship with Foxconn by outsourcing production of its 10.1-inch tablets to the manufacturer. Amazon has historically hired Foxconn to build its Kindle e-readers, but the retailer went with Quanta for its new Kindle Fire touchscreen tablet, set to ship on Nov. 15.
Unveiled on Wednesday, the 7-inch Fire sells for $199 and is a "souped-up version" of the Kindle that is meant for media consumption through Amazon's ecosystem. Amazon Prime members can enjoy movie and TV show streaming on the tablet and users can purchase apps via Amazon Appstore. The Fire runs an older version of Google's Android operating system with a "fresh and easy-to-use interface" painted over Android's "rough surfaces."
According to the report, sources said Foxconn "decided not to take" orders for the Fire because it had been busy producing Apple's iPad. That's consistent with rumors that emerged in June that said the success of the iPad could place production constraints on Amazon.
Amazon instead turned to Quanta, which had produced Research in Motion's PlayBook tablet earlier in the year. The Fire bears a strikingly close resemblance to the PlayBook.
AppleInsider reported on Monday that, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the Kindle Fire is a transitional device meant to 'test the waters' ahead of Amazon's true tablet efforts that have been pushed back to next year. The 10.1-inch tablet is reportedly codenamed "Coyote" and is expected to arrive in early 2012. Amazon is also said to be readying an 8.9-inch tablet with an "amazing form factor" for the second half of next year.
Initial response to the Fire has been mixed. Analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray said the device is "not a true competitor, but more competitive than expected," while noting that Amazon is expected to lose about $50 per unit it sells. J.P. Morgan's Mark Moskowitz was unimpressed with the Fire, calling it "noise" and a stepping stone at best. Others, however, have hailed the device as an "iPad killer" that will undercut Apple's tablet on price.
Kuo estimates that Amazon will build 3 million Fires by the end of the year, but some industry watchers have expressed concerns that supply of the device will be tight this holiday season.
"When [Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos] quipped that people should get their pre-orders in quick, that wasn't just a sales pitch," Reuters reported Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair as saying "That was him warning this will sell out."
Amazon will benefit from using older technology and more readily available 7-inch screens, but may have trouble expanding its production and distribution capabilities. Rival Apple has leveraged its sophisticated operations to give it "a competitive advantage over Amazon, which may find it difficult to produce more than a few million Kindle Fires for the holiday season," Munster said on Wednesday.
In addition to the Fire, Amazon unveiled a $79 low-end Kindle without a keyboard and a Kindle Touch with multi-touch capability. Both devices continue to use e-ink displays and will be sold alongside the previous model, which has been renamed the Kindle Keyboard.
Comments
Anyway... Good for Amazon, as competition is always good, and the Amazon ecosystem is quite solid at this point.
Why cant they have production in the US?
That is unpatriotic.
The same goes for Apple as well.
I'm looking forward to more details on the device. If nothing else it should push Apple to do much better with iPad3. Unlike HP and others I do think Amazon will be successful with this product. Like Kindle they have no intention of competing directly with Apple. For customers though they might see it as a solid alternative.
The horse and pony show did not last long enough. Most people caught up with the BS of a seven incher, so now they come out with scam 2.
The Asian boiler rooms are coming of age.
So would they call this the Kindle Fire, too, or choose some other name like Kindle Inferno?
The 10 inch model will be called the Kindle Extinguisher.
What is up with American companies outsourcing products to communist China?
Why cant they have production in the US?
That is unpatriotic.
The same goes for Apple as well.
What is up with American companies outsourcing products to communist China?
Let me guess you want them to build it in the US from US sourced parts. To that I ask how much are you willing to pay for this device? Is a $1000 iPad (base model) in your price range? How long are you willing to wait for the factories to be set up and the patent free technology to be developed so the unit can be sold legally.
Why cant they have production in the US?
The number one problem is that there are far to many Democrats in office that don't understand business, economics or responsibility. They strive to create a Utopia, for themselves, built on the backs of American workers and the factories that employ them.
Beyond that this battle was lost many decades ago when most of the consumer electronics industry left the USA. Here we are talking TV and radios for the most part as computers hardly existed back then. The reality was that domestic manufactures could never compete, with many of the brands disappearing completely.
That is unpatriotic.
What would you prefer? Seriously would you rather have foreign owned companies develop and sell these products in the USA? Or would you rather see Apple go under because no body can afford their hardware?
The other problem is that so much of the underlying tech left the USA so long ago we no longer have the underlying technology base to produce the components required to build the devices. LCDs are just one example here.
I don't disagree that we need to rebuild our manufacturing base. The problem is with electronics it isn't as easy as it sounds as we no longer hold the required IP. You need to realize that the move to Asia happened in the early seventies, China us just a recent blip on the radar. Actually the use of the word move isn't accurate here as in some cases domestic business simply got whipped out.
The same goes for Apple as well.
Yeah well you can whine or cry in your milk all you want but that won't change anything. Rather you need to get involved in government and curtail waste which is a huge problem. You also need to blunt the liberal element that expects government to do everything for them. This country has been living on borrowed money for far to long wasting billions(trillions) on social programs that do nothing. You should have the expectation that every dollar spent by the government either go for defense of the nation or to programs and projects that have a net positive impact on the economy. If you aren't willing to be part of the solution you are the problem.
The 10 inch model will be called the Kindle Extinguisher.
That way Amazon can say mine is bigger than yours!
That way Amazon can say mine is bigger than yours!
In that case they should call it The Truth!
(as in Nicholson - A Few Good Men...)
So would they call this the Kindle Fire, too, or choose some other name like Kindle Inferno?
The Kindle 451
Let me guess you want them to build it in the US from US sourced parts. To that I ask how much are you willing to pay for this device? Is a $1000 iPad (base model) in your price range? How long are you willing to wait for the factories to be set up and the patent free technology to be developed so the unit can be sold legally.
The number one problem is that there are far to many Democrats in office that don't understand business, economics or responsibility. They strive to create a Utopia, for themselves, built on the backs of American workers and the factories that employ them.
Beyond that this battle was lost many decades ago when most of the consumer electronics industry left the USA. Here we are talking TV and radios for the most part as computers hardly existed back then. The reality was that domestic manufactures could never compete, with many of the brands disappearing completely.
What would you prefer? Seriously would you rather have foreign owned companies develop and sell these products in the USA? Or would you rather see Apple go under because no body can afford their hardware?
The other problem is that so much of the underlying tech left the USA so long ago we no longer have the underlying technology base to produce the components required to build the devices. LCDs are just one example here.
I don't disagree that we need to rebuild our manufacturing base. The problem is with electronics it isn't as easy as it sounds as we no longer hold the required IP. You need to realize that the move to Asia happened in the early seventies, China us just a recent blip on the radar. Actually the use of the word move isn't accurate here as in some cases domestic business simply got whipped out.
Yeah well you can whine or cry in your milk all you want but that won't change anything. Rather you need to get involved in government and curtail waste which is a huge problem. You also need to blunt the liberal element that expects government to do everything for them. This country has been living on borrowed money for far to long wasting billions(trillions) on social programs that do nothing. You should have the expectation that every dollar spent by the government either go for defense of the nation or to programs and projects that have a net positive impact on the economy. If you aren't willing to be part of the solution you are the problem.
You are surely high.
"The number one problem is that there are far to many Democrats in office that don't understand business, economics or responsibility. They strive to create a Utopia, for themselves, built on the backs of American workers and the factories that employ them. "
Um excuse me but its republicans who want to do away with unions, minimum wage, health and safety regulations and government oversight so, as sane people see it, its the republicans who want to get rich on the backs of the workers in those factories.
"You also need to blunt the liberal element that expects government to do everything for them. This country has been living on borrowed money for far to long wasting billions(trillions) on social programs that do nothing"
I notice you don't mention the corporate welfare like billion dollar oil subsidies for oil corps that are making record profits, nor do you consider the bloated defense budget wasteful as we produce guns that shoot around corners and outfit the ENTIRE navy with laser beam guns.
I would think you live in a fantasy world, a house of cards built for you by numbskulls like Glenn Beck -but I know the truth is probably that you're just a liar who thinks they snow people into backing your sick, twisted far right movement to strip all that makes America America away. YOU go work in the sweatshops and make sure YOUR children have no proper education -leave the rest of us alone.
Let me guess you want them to build it in the US from US sourced parts. To that I ask how much are you willing to pay for this device? Is a $1000 iPad (base model) in your price range? How long are you willing to wait for the factories to be set up and the patent free technology to be developed so the unit can be sold legally.
The number one problem is that there are far to many Democrats in office that don't understand business, economics or responsibility. They strive to create a Utopia, for themselves, built on the backs of American workers and the factories that employ them.
Beyond that this battle was lost many decades ago when most of the consumer electronics industry left the USA. Here we are talking TV and radios for the most part as computers hardly existed back then. The reality was that domestic manufactures could never compete, with many of the brands disappearing completely.
What would you prefer? Seriously would you rather have foreign owned companies develop and sell these products in the USA? Or would you rather see Apple go under because no body can afford their hardware?
The other problem is that so much of the underlying tech left the USA so long ago we no longer have the underlying technology base to produce the components required to build the devices. LCDs are just one example here.
I don't disagree that we need to rebuild our manufacturing base. The problem is with electronics it isn't as easy as it sounds as we no longer hold the required IP. You need to realize that the move to Asia happened in the early seventies, China us just a recent blip on the radar. Actually the use of the word move isn't accurate here as in some cases domestic business simply got whipped out.
Yeah well you can whine or cry in your milk all you want but that won't change anything. Rather you need to get involved in government and curtail waste which is a huge problem. You also need to blunt the liberal element that expects government to do everything for them. This country has been living on borrowed money for far to long wasting billions(trillions) on social programs that do nothing. You should have the expectation that every dollar spent by the government either go for defense of the nation or to programs and projects that have a net positive impact on the economy. If you aren't willing to be part of the solution you are the problem.
Slow of mind, ignorant of IP technology and of the actual available fabrication in the US amongst Republicans never ceases to amaze me.
Just in off of GlobalFoundries website:
IBM to lead $US4.4 billion chip investment in New York
Intel, GlobalFoundries, IBM, TSMC, Samsung create 450mm initiative in New York.
New research center in Albany could influence expansion in Luther Forest
What is up with American companies outsourcing products to communist China?
Why cant they have production in the US?
That is unpatriotic.
The same goes for Apple as well.
Because you would not pay $600 for the fire?
Slow of mind, ignorant of IP technology and of the actual available fabrication in the US amongst Republicans never ceases to amaze me.
Just in off of GlobalFoundries website:
IBM to lead $US4.4 billion chip investment in New York
Intel, GlobalFoundries, IBM, TSMC, Samsung create 450mm initiative in New York.
New research center in Albany could influence expansion in Luther Forest
What part of that did you read that made you think there was any large scale manufacturing (or in fact any thing other than development scale) going on? Lots of companies do R&D in the US.. Every company in that consortium manufactures in Asia.
$4.4 billion would not build any reasonable sized semiconductor manufacturing in this country. Next time you set out to insult someone, it might help to read and comprehend your sources. (Which were all just the same story anyway, so linking one of them would have been sufficient).
Correction the third story is not the same. Nor does it support your point. In fact it does quite the opposite. It is hometown cheerleading that maybe these R&D facilities would cause manufacturing to be built there. They also say the only place that makes sense is there or malta. Guess who will win when it comes time to spend real money? I bet you believe RIM makes all their phones in Canada too
Assembly of small devices is very labor intensive, it is not practical for anyone to do it in the US. Apple and Amazon do employ a lot of people in the US. China too I suppose, but then soon, Apple may have more customers in China...
So would they call this the Kindle Fire, too, or choose some other name like Kindle Inferno?
Kindle bonfire.
What is up with American companies outsourcing products to communist China?
Why cant they have production in the US?
That is unpatriotic.
The same goes for Apple as well.
It's called free market capitalism. You own many things made in communist China.
It is especially nice that they made the product without copying Apple. I can have respect for that!
I'm looking forward to more details on the device. If nothing else it should push Apple to do much better with iPad3. Unlike HP and others I do think Amazon will be successful with this product. Like Kindle they have no intention of competing directly with Apple. For customers though they might see it as a solid alternative.
Totally agree, but, I'll have to use it to make a final call. It is half the size of the iPad after all, and from where I'm sitting that is not a good thing. A 7" tablet is not the kind of device I'd take with me anywhere really, and at home then it's too small to be really useful. I believe the reason Jobs called 7" tabs tweeners is because they tested and prototyped every size before making a decision. And the iPad was in R & D for years. It is worth mentioning anyone doing an app tablet is copying Apple on some level. Don't you remember? The iPad was meant to be just a big iPod touch and a huge failure.
You can rest assured every company doing a tablet now, including Amazon, is doing it because of Apple's influence over consumers, companies and the market.
Furthermore I think naming the fire a Kindle is a bit disingenuous, as this implies it's a book reader, when in reality reading a book on an LCD screen is just wrong. When they made the e-ink Kindle I thought they understood this. I own both a Kindle 3 and an iPad 2 and I can tell you, reading a book on e-ink is not just a supremely better experience, but the only experience worth considering. It's just a shame though that the actual Kinlde hardware (the K3 at least) absolutely sucks, the page buttons barely work, the display is too small for books, and the software is like nails down a blackboard.
What is up with American companies outsourcing products to communist China?
Why cant they have production in the US?
That is unpatriotic.
The same goes for Apple as well.
There is not much communistic about China. In fact if communism is supposed to be by the workers for the workers, we are a helluvalot more communist than them:
Foxconn worker: $300 a month, no benefits and no unions to mess with you. Workday: 14-18 hours.
American worker: $3,000/mo total comp at the very minimum, paid vacations, overtime, daycare, holidays, unions, strikes, protests....tsk tsk tsk. Not to mention the product would cost 3x as much, therefore not competitive.
Patriotism is great, as long as it's free. Companies are not stupid. The only way I see this trend changing is if compensation in china increases to the point where they offset the cost of logistics.
There is not much communistic about China. ...
There is nothing communist about China besides the word "Communist" in "Communist Party". The political system in China is much closer to fascism than communism.