$99 NOVO7 Coming; Kindle Fire Set to Claim Second Spot in Tablet Market

A number of low-cost computer tablets, like the NOVO7, priced at $99, are entering the market, in addition to formerly discontinued products; the result is an increasingly competitive scenario.

Despite the new entries, Amazon's Kindle Fire has not changed its sales strategies and is on its way to claiming second position in the tablet market, less than three months after its release. The company also saw off a slightly costlier competitor in Barnes & Noble's Nook (which seemed to be a more promising piece of hardware) with no changes in its policies.

According to recent statistics, the Kindle Fire, starting from zero in the third quarter, will capture approximately 13.8 percent of the tablet market, over the final three months of the current year. Amazon is expected to ship 3.9 million Kindle Fire tablets in the fourth quarter of this year.

According to a preliminary projection from the IHS iSuppli Display Materials & Systems Service, from information and analysis provider IHS (NYSE: IHS), Amazon's tablet surpassed the 4.8 percent held by Samsung and will now be second only to Apple's mammoth 65.6 percent. The increase will see it surpass other established manufacturers like HTC and Hewlett-Packard.

Nearly two years after Apple Inc. rolled out the iPad, a competitor has finally developed an alternative which looks like it might have enough of Apple's secret sauce to succeed, said Rhoda Alexander, senior manager, tablet and monitor research, for IHS.

Initial market response strongly suggests that Amazon, with the Kindle Fire, has found the right combination of savvy pricing, astute marketing, accessible content and an appropriate business model, positioning the Kindle Fire to appeal to a brand-new set of media tablet buyers. The production plans make it clear that Amazon is betting big on the product, she concluded.

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