Amazon has revealed that it is stepping up production of its Kindle Fire tablet after pre-orders exceeded its expectations.
Speaking at the company's hugely profitable and yet disappointing financial results for the last quarter, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos spilled the beans on the early interest in the Android Kindle Fire tab and the more traditional Kindle products.
"In the three weeks since launch, orders for electronic ink Kindles are double the previous launch," Bezos said.
"And based on what we're seeing with Kindle Fire preorders, we're increasing capacity and building millions more than we'd already planned."
Loss leader
This is big news for Amazon – who will look to make back any losses it makes on each unit by sales of media such as television, film, music, apps and old friend ebooks.
The Kindle Fire could well prove to be a genuine competitor for the leviathan that is Apple's iPad, with the online shopping giant in the position to launch the tab at a loss-making and therefore hugely competitive price point of $199.
The debacle around the HP TouchPad has shown the consumer interest in a low cost tablet – and a sub $200 price, which would hint at a £199 Kindle Fire UK price – makes it less of a luxury purchase.
We're still waiting for news on a Kindle Fire UK release date, but we're hoping to see it in early 2012, unless Amazon is holding fire (sorry) for the next generation of devices before looking to non-US markets.
Amazon results
In other Amazon news, the company's quarterly results showed net income for the period of $63 million, compared to $231 million in the same period last year.
Revenue was up to $10.88 billion - a 44 per cent increase - but not enough to meet analysts estimates who had expected earnings of 24 cent a share rather than the 14 cents they actually got.
Via Allthingsdigital
