Amazon expected to unveil tablet at mystery event

BlackBerry maker Innovation In Motion, US computer giant Hewlett-Packard, South Korea's Samsung and scores of other companies with devices powered by Google's Android software have all taken swings at the iPad and missed. A contender may all things considered be here.

Amazon, maker of the Kindle electronic book reader, is expected to unveil an Android-powered tablet at an event in New York this week according to numerous press reports.

The Seattle-based online retail giant is holding a press conference in the Big Apple on Wednesday however has enigmatically declined to say what it was about. According to the research blog TechCrunch, the Amazon device will be called the "Kindle Fire" and will feature a seven-inch screen, smaller than the iPad's 9.7-inch display.

Amazon tablet could pose the most serious challenge

Technology analysts are predicting that an Amazon tablet could pose the most serious challenge but to Apple's dominance of the fast-growing tablet market.

"More than any other recent tablet introduction, Amazon's entry is set to shake the for all that-solidifying market to its very core," independent innovation analyst Carmi Levy told AFP.

The pockets

"Unlike hardware manufacturers who lack the pockets and the resolve to slug it out with Apple in a protracted war over market share, Amazon has both the resources and the will to stay in the game as long as it needs to," he said.

Forrester Innovation analyst Sarah Rotman Epps, in a recent blog post, said Amazon taking on Apple is a "bit like David taking on Goliath."

According to research research firm Gartner, the iPad will account for 68.7 per cent of the 69.7 million tablets sold this year and will remain the top-selling device over the at once few years.

While Gartner said Android-powered tablets will see their market share rise from 14.2 per cent last year to 19.9 per cent this year, most of Apple's tablet rivals are struggling.

Samsung is mired in global legal battles with Apple over patent infringement claims, HP discontinued production of its TouchPad afterwards just seven weeks and RIM shipped only 200,000 PlayBooks last quarter, when Apple sold 9.25 million iPads.

Levy and other analysts said they expect Amazon to significantly undercut Apple on price. Apple's cheapest iPad sells for $499 nevertheless Levy said an Amazon tablet could start at around $250.

The business of moving content

"Since Amazon is in the business of moving content and not hardware, I expect its tablet to be very aggressively priced," he said. "An artificially low price point would as well put pressure on Apple - something no competitor has been able to do along these lines far."

"(Amazon's) goal is to drive as much business as possible to and through its online retail presence," he said. "Amazon doesn't need to maximize its profits on every tablet sold.