15 Million Kindle Fires Burning By 2013?

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Amazon's upcoming Kindle Fire media tablet should sell through more than 15 million units worldwide by the end of 2013, helping to stoke the development flames for Android, Strategy Analytics said today.

This is among the first sales projections we have seen from a major market research firm for the Amazon device. Announced yesterday at a $199 price point and running a customized version of the Android operating system, Kindle Fire will likely be joined by two more models in the next two years, Strategy Analytics presumes in its forecast. The company also expects Amazon to extend sales into Western Europe, Japan and other overseas markets during 2012.

The research firm's Director Peter King says the device is likely to enjoy an enthusiastic response when it hits the market next month. "Amazon has avoided what most of the earlier iPad competitors failed to avoid -- a direct comparison on size, features, price and user experience," he states. King believes the Kindle Fire's market success will be especially good news for Google. Fire sales volumes will likely fuel app development for Amazon -- specifically perhaps, but also for Android's larger-screen format generally. One of the early problems with pure Android tablets was the dearth of apps specifically made for the larger screen.

King tells Online Media Daily that the Fire is not pitched as -- and will not prove to be -- a direct competitor to the iPad. "Consequently, it will not impact on the sales trajectory for Apple."

In fact, King expects that during the forecast period through 2013, Apple iPads will sell at six times the volume of the Fire. "However, the Fire could be placed either second or third in vendor tablet shipments by 2013."

King says Samsung is the other likely top three contender in the market, as it is the only manufacturer apart from Apple to have shipped more than a million units in recent quarters. "Nook is a long way behind," he says. "there are dozens and dozens of cheap tablets. Consumers are not mugs; they don't like them. They don't do what the consumer expects because the bar has been raised so high by Apple."

Amazon's Fire was announced on Wednesday and is scheduled to ship on November 15. Amazon is positioning it as a media consumption device with access to movies, TV episodes, magazines and books. At the same time, it will give users access to the Android apps in its own Amazon App Store as well as an accelerated Web browsing experience and cloud storage of media content.

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