"Just two weeks after its introduction, Amazon’s Kindle Fire already is shaking up the market, with the device expected to surpass all other iPad rivals to take second place in the global media tablet business in the fourth quarter," says analysis provider IHS.
What's also interesting is that there will be a huge gap between second and third place. By the end of the year, 3.9 million of Amazon's flagship Kindle will ship, garnering a 13.8 percent share of global media tablet shipments, "exceeding the 4.8 percent held by No. 3 Samsung, and second only to Apple’s commanding 65.6 percent portion of the market," IHS says.
“Nearly two years after Apple Inc. rolled out the iPad, a competitor has finally developed an alternative which looks like it might have enough of Apple’s secret sauce to succeed,” said Rhoda Alexander, senior manager, tablet and monitor research for IHS, in a release.
Amazon's secret sauce is what's helping it to such quick stardom: First, the tablet priced at $199, a bargain compared to most other tablets, including Apple's, that start at $499. Second is Amazon's huge content library and built-in base of customers.
