Kindle Fire HD hot, but Google Nexus 7 grabs more Web traffic
The new Fire is seeing strong demand, according to ad impressions from Chitika, but Google's Nexus 7 is at the top of the charts in Web traffic.
Amazon's new Kindle Fire HD is off to a good start in the market, yet the Nexus 7 remains the tablet to beat, at least in the eyes of mobile ad network Chitika.
Tracking hundreds of millions of ad impressions on its network from September 14 to 18, Chitika compared the Web traffic generated by the the Kindle Fire HD and the Nexus 7.
Only five days after its debut, the Kindle Fire HD racked up 11 percent of all Kindle Fire ad impressions in the U.S. and Canada. That means the new model is doing nicely in comparison with its predecessor. However, the new Kindle Fire's initial adoption rate doesn't quite hold a candle to that of the Nexus 7.
Measured against all tablet traffic over the same week, the Kindle Fire HD's share was less than 1 percent. Although obviously low, that's similar to the percentage seen by Chitika for almost all new non-iPad tablets during their first week.
Looking strictly at the share of overall Web traffic, the Fire HD has so far grabbed a 3.5 percent slice, while the Nexus 7 leads with 68.5 percent. Eyeing the two tablets, Chitika believes the Fire HD has a lot of ground to catch up if it's to make any headway against the Nexus 7.
That's certainly a valid point but not quite a fair comparison since the Nexus 7 has a hefty jump-start on the Fire HD.
Google released its tablet mid-July, while the new Fire went on sale a week and a half ago. Tracking the Nexus 7's initial Web traffic in July, Chitika found that the tablet was off to an impressive start but trailed such rivals as the original Kindle Fire and Samsung's Galaxy Tab. However, Web traffic for the Nexus soared shortly after it started to reach consumers.
Both tablets offer the same starting price of $199, which puts them on even ground.
The current Fire HD is available only as a 7-inch Wi-Fi edition. Amazon plans to unveil two 8.9-inch versions in November, one Wi-Fi only and one equipped with 4G LTE.
The Nexus 7 comes strictly as a 7-inch Wi-Fi device, but a recent rumor claims that Google will soon offer a 3G version.
Barnes & Noble just upped its game by announcing 7-inch Nook HD and 9-inch Nook HD+ tablets, slated to debut this fall. So the tablet wars are likely to heat up even further.
Given enough time, will the Fire HD catch up with the Nexus 7 in demand, at least as tracked by Chitika? Or will the new Nook tablets beat the pack? We'll have to check back with the ad network later this year to find out.
