Amazon may launch 10.1-inch Kindle Fire by Q3 2012

The only tablet that has actually posed a threat to Apple’s iPad is Amazon's Kindle Fire and it had made quite a significant dent on Apple’s market share. A lot of talks that have been floating around are speculating that since Apple has been losing its market to the 7-inch tablet from Amazon, they are launching the iPad mini that roughly measures between 7 to 8-inch. However, it appears that Amazon is not the one to sit on their success and is instead looking to launch a 10.1-inch tablet that will directly compete with Apple’s iPad, a report by Digitimes states. As per the report, “The latest market rumors indicate that Amazon is likely to launch a 10.1-inch Kindle Fire in the third quarter, while tentatively suspending the launch of a speculated 8.9-inch model.” The website states that industry sources have informed them that this move by Amazon is to streamline their line-up and directly compete with the Apple iPad and the Galaxy Note tablets. The report concludes by stating, “Tablet PC orders from Amazon are expected to start gaining momentum at the end of the second quarter or in early third quarter, said the sources. Including shipments of an entry-level as well as an advanced 7-inch Kindle Fire tablet, Amazon is expected to ship 30-40 million tablet PCs in 2012, the sources estimated.”

This projected launch date for the rumoured 10.1-inch Amazon tablet coincides with the date that Apple is expected to launch iPad mini, which is expected to be the tablet that will help the Cupertino-based company to completely dominate the tablet market. Apple is expected to price the iPad mini at around $200 to $250; this appears that Apple aims to price it aggressively, so that no other tablet can manage to compete with them. From previous reports, the iPad mini is rumoured to have a Retina Display and specifications similar to their 9.7-inch tablet. However, to keep the price low, the brand will launch it with a storage capacity of 8GB. Let us know your reactions to Amazon launching a 10.1-inch Kindle Fire and do you think that this larger tablet will manage to cannibalize Apple’s market just how their 7-inch slate did in the past.