Friday, May 4, 2012

Kindle Fire, is it failing?

iPad Marketshare Hits 68% Worldwide, article.
IDC’s data shows Kindle Fire shipments dropping from 4.8 million units during the fourth quarter 2011 down to 750,000 in the first quarter of 2012.

Ouch! Okay, sure, that first one was the Christmas quarter, but still, that's a serious drop.
And the Kindle Fire only had a 4% market share in the first 2012 quarter. Honestly, I had expected quite a bit more, due to Amazon's marketing power and the shocking loss-leader price, $200, they put on the Fire.
Mostly I hear people are happy with their Kindle Fire. But perhaps most people really do want either a bigger tablet, or more abilities than mere media consumption?
I hope this won't stop the creation of a 7-inch iPad, I would like one.

In related news, Target is dropping Amazon/Kindle products. That's also a bit of a bombshell. I don't see how the Kindle could possibly be less of a boon for the store than other ereader products, which are basically no-name products compared to the fame of the Kindle. I'd like to know why they did this. Can it really have been selling that badly, when Amazon continues to say it's their best-selling product?

3 comments:

TC [Girl] said...

Wow! Vera, VERA SURPRISING! Well...I know that the online connectivity SUCKS on mine! That is my main complaint/disappointment with it! :-(

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

dunno if it's the same, but Len wrote on TKC 197:

"Kindle Tech Support helps me solve a nagging WiFi connection problem for my Kindle Fire. I had to enter the password of our home network every time I put the Fire to sleep. The solution: Restart the Kindle Fire by pressing and holding the power button on the bottom of the Kindle for 2 seconds and tapping “Shut Down.” Hold the power button for 2 seconds to turn the device back on. While the Kindle is restarting, unplug the network router for a full 15 seconds. After plugging the router back in, wait until the router has finished rebooting before attempting to connect to your Wi-Fi network again."

http://www.thekindlechronicles.com/2012/05/11/tkc-197-james-mcquivey/

TC [Girl] said...

Thanks but no. I noticed, today, that it can "hustle," when the WIFI strength is there so, perhaps it has something to do w/that.