Many investors of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) may be worried that today marked the official launch notice of the new Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire from Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). It is more likely that Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) should be worried.
Amazon.com is releasing new touch versions of the Kindle to go after the tablet market, but it is also announcing serious price cuts on the traditional Kindle e-readers.
The website before this announcement showed that the regular Kindle was $114 after special offers, and that the Kindle 3G was $139 with special offers, and $189 as the list price for the 3G. It may seem amazingly priced, but the new Kindle and Kindle Touch are only $79 and $99, respectively. The $79 version clocks in at just under 6 ounces and comes with a 6 inch display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line e-reader with free 3G at only $149.
The new tablet competition comes from the Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire and the products will be on a modified version of Android and willl come with a dual core processor. Kindle Fire comes with a vibrant color touch display in high resolution and weighs only 14.6 ounces for $199. The Kindle Fire will be released on November 15, 2011 but orders are alread being taken.
Here are the new features from Amazon:
- 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books
- Amazon Appstore – thousands of popular apps and games
- Ultra-fast web browsing – Amazon Silk
- Free cloud storage for all your Amazon content
- Vibrant color touchscreen with extra-wide viewing angle
- Fast, powerful dual-core processor
- Amazon Prime members enjoy unlimited, instant streaming of over 10,000 popular movies and TV shows
Apple stock is actually up 0.3% at $400.60 today so the move is not a total wipe-out for Apple. Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) is really the threatened position with its Noook and its shares are down over 8% at $12.13. Amazon.com shares are up more than 3% above $231.00 today.
JON C. OGG
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