Amazon has announced a series of upgrades to its line of Fire tablets. The low price point makes the tablets an attractive option for children or consumers on a tight budget, and that may be why the tablets have done well in recent years.
Price Cuts And Upgrades
Amazon's line of Fire tablets has never offered the best hardware or widest selection of apps. Instead, the company built its brand around affordability and that trend is clearly continuing.
Amazon has announced that its flagship Fire HD 8 will receive a $10 price cut, bringing the retail price down to $80 for the 16 GB version. The 32 GB version will have its price reduced by $20, bringing it down to $100.
While the HD 8 might be Amazon's most powerful offering, the $50 Fire 7 is the driving force behind the company's aggressive push into the declining tablet market. The Fire 7 isn't getting a price cut, but it will be receiving some technical upgrades in the form of better battery life.
Amazon has also announced a new children's tablet known as the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition. This children's tablet is actually more expensive than the standard Fire HD 8, but comes with a two-year replacement plan and a one-year subscription to Amazon FreeTimeUnlimited.
Growth In A Declining Market
Things have not been going well for the tablet industry, which has seen a sharp decline in the number of hardware being sold. There are two main reasons for this. The first is that larger smartphones are able to fill the niche that used to be occupied by smaller tablets, so people see less need for tablets. The second reason is the simple fact that consumers are holding on to their older devices longer and longer.
"The iPad 2 is still in use today," IDC Senior Analyst Jitesh Ubrani told TechCrunch. "The [original] iPad Minis and Air are all still in use today. They were being supported by Apple until very recently. People have been hanging on to these devices and they're finding that they work just as well as they did when they were released."
While the news does not look good for Apple or Samsung's tablet lines, Amazon's numbers have been on the upswing, with the company reporting in first quarter 2016 that its Fire 7 was the most popular tablet in the United States.
A Path Forward
The success of Amazon's Fire line shows that there is still an interest in consumer tablets, but the industry's major players may need to rethink their strategy. The current data indicates that there simply isn't a large enough consumer base to support premium tablets, but there is a place for more affordable offerings.
For its part, Apple seems to be responding this new trend by offering a more affordable iPad, but it is unlikely that the company will be lowering its prices enough to compete with Amazon's $50 tablet.
