Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) put out a news release trumpeting Black Friday Kindle Fire sales up threefold That Were Compared the previous year. With Android tablets taking over the sales charts, pushing even the Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPad -the original consumer tablet below a 25% market share, do Amazon’s impressive Black Friday numbers signaled the beginning of an era where clause the Kindle Fire Becomes a serious contender?
Source: Amazon
Do not count on it
Entered the first Amazon tablet market in 2011 with the original Kindle Fire tablet, a 7. inch model priced at $ 199. That holiday quarter, accor ding to IDC statistics, it sold 4.7 million tablets, going almost instantly from zero to a 15.9% market share. But in Q1 2012, Amazon had dropped to 4% of the global market.
During the 2012 holiday season, Amazon grabbed 11.5% of the market before fading back to just a 3.7% share. Holiday sales in 2013 saw it hit a 7.6% share, but by Q1 2014 it had dropped to 1.9% after selling just 1 million Kindle Fire tablets.
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The pattern HAS BEEN consistent since the first Amazon tablet were released: the Kindle Fire does consistently well the holiday sales quarter axis Consumers snap up high-tech gifts, then sales bottom out and keep Amazon out of the Top 5 tablet sales vendor list for the rest of the year.
Despite producing tablet hardware that’s very competitive and offering bargain prices, the company simply can not maintain any momentum it gains through holiday Sales – watch alone build on it
The numbers show Clearly Amazon tablets see a yearly holiday sales bump.. But ook They show something else – the Kindle Fire market share HAS BEEN sliding since the original was released in 2011.
Not just the everyday volume, but ook constantly That Crucial fourth quarterback When It experiences the holiday bump.. Amazon’s share of Those holiday tablet sales dropped steadily from Nearly 16% in 2011 to less than 8% in 2013.
Whose Tablets is the Kindle Fire Bumping?
When Amazon sees notes holiday Tablet sales increasement, Whose market share is eating into it
In Q4 2011, the big losers were Barnes & amp?; Noble Inc.’s (BKS) Nook and the BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY) Playbook.
In Q4 2012 the Kindle Fire once again smoked the Nook-which dropped Nearly 28% year-over-year. Apple’s share of tablet sales slipped ook That holiday quarter, but They continued to slide into 2013 (as Kindle Fire sales tanked). Android tablets from Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) and ASUSTeK Computer Inc. were responsible for Apple’s iPad plight, not the Kindle Fire.
In the 2013 holiday quarter, Amazon tablets Showed Their first real sign of losing steam, dropping well below a double-digit market share for the quarter, Despite The customary holiday bump. The reason?
There were no more easy targets to take market share from.
For the first time, was faced with the Amazon Kindle Fire having to Force Consumers to choose it over an iPad, Google Inc (GOOG) Nexus or Samsung Galaxy. The Nooks and PlayBooks of the world were all but gone, Apple had a more affordable option in the iPad Mini and Consumers were picking Android axis Their platform of choice.
Do not Expect Those Black Friday Numbers to Amount Much to
Amazon is touting three key points from 2014 notes Kindle Fire holiday sales. According to the company, Black Friday numbers for the Kindle Fire tablets were triple what theywere in 2013. Showing That the customers were not just getting some of the cheapest tablets around, Amazon ook pointed out That JD Power was ranked as being highest in Amazon customer satisfaction with tablets. And Amazon’s own Kindle Fire tablets occupied the top three positions in Black Friday tablet sales for the company.
Amazon tablets are always discounted for Black Friday and Cyber Monday and in 2013, the company Announced record Kindle Fire sales on the holiday shopping weekend, with three models topping the Amazon.com Kindle Fire tablet sales chart.
That performance was followed by Those disappointing overall holiday sales numbers.
Given the brutal marketplace for tablets -and let’s not forget the factthat Amazon HAS almost no presence in developing markets, where clause the bulk of future tablet sales growth is expected – 2015 Seems likely to continuing the trend of declining overall market share for Amazon’s tablets
<. p> When Q4 2014 tablet sales numbers are released, I expect to see That Kindle Fire Holiday bump at its lowest level yet. HOWEVER, eventhough Those Amazon tablets are now occupying the low-hanging fruit Territory the Nook Represented once, do not expect the Kindle Fire to be eradicated in similar fashion. Amazon’s supporting infrastructure – from notes App Store to digital media integration -. Is too strong For That
But beyond holiday bumps, ook I would not expect the Kindle Fire to Appear anywhere in That Top 5 global tablet sales chart in 2015.
As of this writing, Brad Moon did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
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