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Print 11 comment(s) - last by lawrance.. on Mar 17 at 11:19 AM
Japanese and European launch also includes a price cut in the US

Amazon launched its $299, 8.9” screen Kindle Fire HD tablet in the United States last year. Amazon has announced that it has now launched the 8.9” Kindle Fire HD in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK and Japan.

“We’re thrilled with customer reaction to Kindle Fire HD 8.9”. Customers tell us they love our large-screen version of Kindle Fire HD for web browsing, email, gaming, watching TV shows, reading magazines, and more,” said Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle.

Kindle Fire HD 8.9"

While the tablet is just now coming to those new countries, consumers in the United States can now purchase it at a lower price. The new price for the Wi-Fi only model is $269, while the 4G version of the Kindle Fire HD was slashed from the original $499 down to $399.
 
Limp explained the price reduction, stating, “As we expand Kindle Fire HD 8.9” to Europe and Japan, we’ve been able to increase our production volumes and decrease our costs. Across our business at Amazon, whenever we are able to create cost efficiencies like this, we want to pass the savings along to our customers.”
 
The updated Kindle Fire HD 8.9” pricing is now reflected on Amazon’s website.

Source: Amazon


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Slashes??
By uallas5 on 3/14/2013 10:13:34 AM , Rating: 2
I would put a 10% reduction in price in the realm of a price "cut" not a slashing. I was hoping for something dramatic, like 20% or more.




RE: Slashes??
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 3/14/2013 10:19:18 AM , Rating: 2
A $100 price cut on the LTE model seems pretty dramatic to me...


RE: Slashes??
By uallas5 on 3/14/2013 10:38:29 AM , Rating: 2
You're right for the LTE.

I was looking at the Wifi only, which is only 10%. Didn't look at the LTE version as I have no interest in buying it.


RE: Slashes??
By CZroe on 3/15/2013 11:39:52 AM , Rating: 2
I just consider it a step toward normalcy. I think $200 more for a cellular module is ridiculous. I could get a whole unsubsidized LTE phone for that. Sure, it would be an off brand, but they use basebands from the same suppliers.


RE: Slashes??
By lawrance on 3/17/2013 11:19:26 AM , Rating: 2
20% - Still borderline "Slash"


Wow... $269 is awesome.
By retrospooty on 3/14/2013 10:15:25 AM , Rating: 2
I could see an 8.9 inch 1920x1200 screen - load up CyanogenMod to get rid of the ridiculous Amazon Kindle UI and you have yourself a great tablet on the cheap.




RE: Wow... $269 is awesome.
By luv2liv on 3/14/2013 11:05:33 AM , Rating: 2
no SD slot. no deal


RE: Wow... $269 is awesome.
By retrospooty on 3/14/2013 12:16:33 PM , Rating: 2
YA, I dont like not having SD either, but for that screen at that price, I would get over it.


RE: Wow... $269 is awesome.
By marvdmartian on 3/14/2013 3:35:19 PM , Rating: 2
There were two things that bothered me, when I bought my Kindle Fire HD 8.9" tablet, last year. The high price of memory upgrading (from 16GB to 32GB internal drive space), and the fact that Amazon expected you to stream all your content in from their servers, via an Amazon Prime account ($79/year).

I discovered a nice wireless drive enclosure, made by Patriot (the memory folks), and on sale at Newegg, called a "Gauntlet Node".
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...

I have dropped an 80GB notebook hard drive in there (WD blue drive), and had terrific success in streaming video to my Kindle Fire with it. You DO have to tie up your WiFi by connecting to the external drive (so no surfing while you're doing that), it does take a minute for it to sync up with the tablet (it uses a free app, that you download to sync the two devices), and the enclosure is powered by a rechargeable battery, but I believe it's up to 5 hours on a charge (and I haven't bothered, yet, trying to see if I can stream from it while it's charging).

I got mine when it was on sale for $80, from Newegg, and have been very pleased with it. Unfortunately, the Amazon version of Android on the Kindle Fire is NOT compatible with the Seagate app, for their wireless hard drives, or that would be a better deal. I have, however heard that you can jailbreak the Fire, and then sideload that app, to make it work, however.

While this doesn't solve the problem of no SD slot, it does make it easier to carry a large amount of media with the Fire, and leave the onboard memory available for storage of photos, etc, that you might download (which would then be accessible, later, via the USB cord).


Smart, Very smart marketing
By GotThumbs on 3/14/2013 9:20:38 AM , Rating: 3
Amazon is playing it right IMO.

As Apple already knows....the money is in the content delivery.

Amazon knows they can't compete with IPAD fashionista drools, but when they sell a tablet for much less than Apple....it is a very STRONG draw for consumers.

At the end of the day.....Content is king.




Happy with my Nexus 7
By Falacer on 3/14/2013 12:16:48 PM , Rating: 2
I considered the Fire HD when deciding on which tablet to buy a couple months ago. Mainly because I thought the Kindle would be more family friendly for the kids when we take trips or long drives in the suv.

Completely happy with my choice getting the Nexus 7. I have put 4 movies, lots of music, too many books to count and a dozen apps for the kids. Even without an SD card slot I still have about 15 of the 32gb available.




"Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be." -- Steve Ballmer











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