The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

Amazon to whup Apple rivals when Kindle Fire hits UK

Brits' ideal tablet price: £250

Cloud based data management

Apple's tablet rivals will face "almost impossible competition" when Amazon brings its Kindle Fire to the UK, pollster YouGov has predicted.

Having talked to more than 3000 Brits about their fondness for fondleslabs, YouGov found that 72 per cent of punters planning to pick up a tablet in the near future said they will pick an iPad 2.

That leaves the remaining 28 per cent keen to get an alternative - including, interestingly, the 14 per cent who want a first-gen iPad.

The remainder segments as follows: seven per cent want a Samsung, three per cent want an HTC, another three per cent want a BlackBerry and the final one per cent want an Acer.

Amazon changes the game by offering such a low-price tablet. YouGov said it's not unreasonable to expect the iPad:Fire price differential - $499:$199 in the US - to be maintained when the tablet is finally released over here.

Based on further questioning of punters, YouGov said £250 is the price people want to pay for tablets. Hit that mark and sales will rocket, it reckons.

That, coupled with Amazon's very strong brand recognition, will make it even harder for the Samsungs, HTCs, RIMs and Acers of the world to compete.

Amazon is selling the Fire only in the US for now, presumably to ensure it has the maximum number of units to sell to Americans this upcoming Holiday season. If YouGov's sample data reflects the broader buying public, Apple's rivals need to get more aggressive and make the most of Amazon's brief absence from the UK tablet arena. ®

Regcast training : Hyper-V 3.0, VM high availability and disaster recovery

(Written by Reg staff)

Re: it's all in the marketing

Key phrase you use: "simply selected the most well known".

True, and it shows that the rest are *not* as well known. And that goes double for Asus and companies like it. They may be well known by tech fans, but not by average folks.

Do not dismiss marketing: it's how you sell a f**k of a lot more kit than your competitors.

5
0

Not just the Apple price point

They tried to sell near identikit products, in HP's case with significantly reduced functionality, at the same price point as the runaway market leader. Amazon seem to be the first company to have hit on the idea of doing a device that is both distinct and priced attractively.

Unless Microsoft do something really amazing, my feeling is that it's a two-horse race from here on out. The interesting thing will be whether Amazon's forked Android slowly diverges from the Google original on technical grounds so as to make it effectively a different target.

3
0

Pricing

the Yougov result should be no surprise to anyone reading the comments here, on enGadget, and a million and one other places.

It is a mark of the greed and stupidity of HP, Rim, etc. that they tried to sell at the Apple price point.

4
1

More from The Register

Samsung Galaxy Note 8: Proof the pen is mightier?
Sammy’s iPad Mini killer has a stylus to stab other rivals too
Microsoft lures buy-curious vixens, corduroys with a cheap fondle
Surface slab sales latest: Will no one rid Ballmer of these turbulent tabs?
First look: iOS 7 for iPad
No, Apple hasn't released it yet, but that doesn't stop intrepid devs
 breaking news
Curtain drops on Apple Store ahead of WWDC: What lies behind?
Steve Jobs watching from on high. No pressure, lads
 breaking news
Cold, dead hands of Steve Jobs slip from iPhones: The Cult of Ive is upon us
Billionaire biz baron's death clears way for uber-shiny iOS 7
Airbus imagines suitcases that find themselves
Point your mobe at your smalls to track their every move
Surprise! Intel smartphone trounces ARM in power trials
Tests show equal performance while sipping significantly less juice
Samsung plans LTE Advanced version of Galaxy S4
1Gbps download capability could stiffen drooping S4 sales forecasts
Apple said to be 'exploring' 5.7-inch iPhone
Who's the copycat this time, Mr. Cook?