Amazon Kindle Fire a "stepping stone," says analyst
A J.P. Morgan analyst has poured water on the Amazon Kindle Fire, saying it's a "stepping stone" into the tablet market. Is he right?
It may be setting the tech world ablaze at the moment, but it seems the Amazon Kindle Fire has left one analyst cold
J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz said the company wasn't impressed with the device, even branding it a "stepping stone, a best, into the tablet market," according to All Things D. With a second Amazon Tablet rumoured to be launching early next year, could he be right?
"We are not impressed with Kindle Fire," Moskowitz wrote in a research note to clients. "In our view, [it] is a stepping stone, at best, into the tablet market. We think that for any vendor to wrestle momentum from Apple, a fully-loaded offering is a must, and here, Kindle Fire falls short for now." Pretty damning. He did everything but say it smelled.
Even the price wasn't enough to assuage him. "In our view, Kindle Fire's low price point speaks to how there is much lacking in the device," he went on. "At $199, we argue that the price point is not going to afford most users a tablet-experience, which is a problem if Amazon wants to become a major tablet vendor."
He's out of whack with pretty much the rest of the industry though, with almost everyone agreeing the Kindle Fire is the most exciting tablet since the iPad. Amazon has the content ecosystem in place to challenge Apple, whereas everyone else has tried to better it on specs. Check out our hands-on for our first verdict.
Having said that, a second Kindle Fire is rumoured to be launching early next year -- and us unlucky Brits aren't even getting the first one yet -- so maybe this is Amazon just testing the water before unveiling something truly special.
What do you think? Are you impressed by the Kindle Fire? Let us know on our Facebook page.