Kindle Fire HD, Microsoft Surface teardowns reveal production costs for Amazon, Microsoft

Last year, IHS found that the original Kindle Fire cost Amazon around $187 to make and now they have taken on the new Kindle Fire HD to see exactly how much it Amazon pays to build one. The company redesigned the new Kindle Fire HD and IHS tore down the device to see exactly what’s inside. The results are quite interesting.
While it’s selling for only $199, IHS revealed that the components used to build this new device cost somewhere around $165. Unlike last year, LG Displays produced the new high resolution 720p display; Texas Instruments helped out with the power supply, video chips, and the new blazing fast dual-core processing chip; while Samsung, after Apple essentially stopped using them for many of their iPad/iPhone components, was able to get a deal with Amazon to supply the memory chip in the new Kindle Fire.

The end result of all these components coming together is a great tablet that many reviewers have recommended for parents and students alike. In today’s competitive market, Google and Amazon are going head to head with their tablets and, while the Nexus 7 seemingly has cheaper components, it seems safe to say that Google’s baby is outselling Amazon’s.
The same AllThingsD article mentions the Microsoft Surface’s component estimated value, as submitted by the same IHS. Unlike Google and Amazon, Microsoft is apparently not interested in creating a budget-friendly tablet, but rather, the company priced the Surface unnecessarily high to compete directly with Apple’s iPad.
IHS’ check of the Surface shows that the components that are being used to build the new tablet, when all put together, cost around $271. Now Microsoft could have easily priced their tablet at $300 or even $400 and still have had pretty good profit margins from it while, simultaneously, boosting the user base of the newly released Windows 8 OS — obviously that is not the goal.
The research firm also found that the new Microsoft Touch Cover, priced separately at $120, costs Microsoft around $16 to produce, and so they will undoubtedly enjoy the extra profit. This goes to show how much more customer-oriented the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD are in comparison to the Microsoft Surface that seems mostly profit-oriented.
Now the question comes in, which of these tablets are you going to purchase this holiday season?

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Amazon posts $274 million loss for Q3 2012, compares iPad mini with Kindle Fire tablets in earnings press release

Now that we have looked at Google’s, Microsoft’s and Apple’s quarterly earnings for the period ending on September 30, it’s time to check out Amazon’s number, as the Kindle Fire maker has also revealed them today.
And it’s not good news despite how the title of its press release, embedded below, may sound, “Amazon.com Announces Third Quarter Sales up 27% to $13.81 Billion,” because it was a losing quarter for the company.
But first, let’s take care of the crazy part in this release: Amazon is offering comparisons between the iPad mini, announced two days ago, and the new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD Android tablets that are have been available to consumers for quite a while now.
In fact, the Kindle Fire tablets have been fighting it out with the Google Nexus 7 so far, while the iPad mini was just rumor. So why the comparison?Nevertheless, here’s why the Kindle Fires are better than the iPad mini, according to Amazon’s PR folks:

Compared to the iPad mini, Kindle Fire HD 8.9” has:

• 193% more pixels (2,304,000 pixels vs. 786,432 pixels)
• 56% more pixels-per-inch (254 vs. 163)
• Watch HD movies and TV – cannot on iPad mini (iPad mini is an SD device)
• Better audio with dual stereo speakers and Dolby Digital Plus
• Wi-Fi with dual band, dual antennas + MIMO
• Costs $30 less

Compared to the iPad mini, Kindle Fire HD 7” has:

• 30% more pixels (1,024,000 vs. 786,432 pixels)
• 33% more pixels per inch (216 vs. 163)
• Watch HD movies and TV – cannot on iPad mini (iPad mini is an SD device)
• Better audio with dual stereo speakers and Dolby Digital Plus
• Wi-Fi with dual band, dual antennas + MIMO
• Costs $130 less

Great stuff, right? Now let’s get back to the actual numbers, because in this department Amazon is yet to compare itself to the main players in the mobile business.
Amazon reported a 27% increase in net sales, $13.81 billion in Q3 2012 compared with $10.88 during the same period last year. But there were no profits. Net losses are at $277 for the quarter or $0.60 per share (EPS), including a $169 million loss reported by LivingSocial, or $0.37. That still leaves Amazon with quite a loss compared to $63 million net income or $0.14 for the same time last year.
Operating loss was at $28 million this quarter, a hefty drop from the $79 million operating income reported in Q3 2011.
Sure, the Kindle Fire tablets are best sellers, according to Amazon, but the company never tells us how many units they sell. Not to mention that they’re all sold at cost, so there are hardly any direct profits for the company there.
Things aren’t looking good for Amazon for the Christmas quarter either, as the company expects either a loss or a profit, and it’s quite a large interval, from $490 million loss to $310 million operating income. In Q4 2011, Amazon saw a $260 million operating income.
Are you buying a Kindle Fire tablet this holiday season?

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Amazon Kindle Fire HD update includes kid-friendly FreeTime

Kids are increasingly becoming tech-savvy, and intuitive gesture-based interfaces are enabling better access to these devices. However, even if young children and early graders can easily tap, touch and swipe, parents still need to be wary about the content their kids can access through connected devices. This is one reason behind Amazon’s launch of its latest feature for the Kindle Fire HD.
Amazon’s FreeTime was announced when the Kindle Fire HD was launched, and was supposed to give parents better control over their — or their kids’ — devices. With FreeTime, you can set time limits on tablet usage, and you can even limit usage to specific apps or features. The software also has a kid-friendly interface, and lets parents easily track their kids’ progress.
Parents can easily exit FreeTime with a password to access the regular Kindle Fire HD apps and features. In this light, FreeTime also works as a multi-user system, in which parents can separate access between their content and their kids’. In their product launch Amazon was supposed to include the feature on the Kindle Fire, too, although this announcement makes no mention of whether FreeTime will also feature on the non-HD variant.
Amazon has also announced that their $199 Kindle Fire HD is their best-selling product so far. No exact sales figures were cited, though, so we’ll take their word for it. 
SOURCES Venture Beat

 

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