Amazon to offer $99 Kindle Fire HD [RUMOR][UPDATE]
In a tablet market where manufacturers are competing more and more on price, Amazon might have a $99 trump card up their sleeve. According to a new report, the retailer will soon offer a 7-inch Kindle Fire HD at just below $100. The tablet will sport a TI processor and 1280 x 800 display, specs not unlike those available in the current $199 model.
It could be that Amazon is simply cutting the price of the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD, as they recently did with the Kindle Fire HD 8.9. That tablet’s LTE version dropped from $499 to $399, while the WiFi edition saw more modest savings. It could also be a version subsidized with “special offers.” If the low-cost 7-inch slate is a new model, how the specs will vary from the current generation is unknown.
The 7-inch tablet range has seen its fair share of quality offerings below $200, but offering a $99 tablet could push Amazon’s sales numbers ahead of the pack.
Update: An Amazon spokesperson has extinguished rumors of the $99 Kindle Fire, stating simply, “It’s not happening — we are already at the lowest price points possible for that hardware.” So that’s that.
[via TechCrunch]