• GigaOm, Tuesday, October 25, 2011 12:23 PM

Raising its assessment of Amazon’s debut tablet, J.P. Morgan now predicts that the ecommerce giant will sell 4.5 to 5 million Kindle Fires in the fourth quarter of the year. (Apple sold 11.1 million iPads during the most recent quarter ending Sept. 24.)

“Based on checks with supply chain vendors, J.P. Morgan’s hardware team reports production momentum for the Fire has is up sharply of late, suggesting that the device is seeing a lot of pre-order demand,” GigaOm reports. “Several vendors, including Foundry partners, have experienced rush orders in the last two to three weeks, J.P. Morgan said Monday in a research note.” J.P. Morgan Web analyst Douglas Anmuth, who covers Amazon, now expects 5 million units to move in the fourth quarter, and expects to see multiple models in 2012, including 7 and 10-inch units and models with 3G radios in addition to Wi-Fi.

Another J.P. Morgan analyst recently dismissed claims that the Amazon could become the world’s No. 2 tablet-maker, calling it “noise.” Said analyst was “not impressed” with the Kindle Fire, and said its price could ultimately be detrimental, indicating that it’s a less than full-featured tablet.

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