According to data by comScore, the Kindle Fire of Amazon became the number one Android tablet last February, taking 54 percent of the entire Android tablet market share. The Galaxy Tab series of Samsung ranked second, making up 15 percent share in February, a decline from its 23 percent rating in December 2011.
Amazon offered Kindle Fire at a cheaper price than its competitors since it can offset the discrepancy in content sales. The major factors that increase the sales of Kindle Fire include its low cost, the Kindle brand's intensity, and the Amazon content ecosystem's extent.
Kindle Fire's growing fame will have substantial consequences for the Android tablet market. Amazon offers an individual app store and a part of the Android 2.3. While Amazon persists to develop the software through its own means, it could possibly lessen the influence of Google over the Android tablets' software ecosystem.
Amazon Kindle Fire
To guarantee application compatibility with Kindle Fire, Amazon apparently offers huge incentive for third-party application developers who create software for Android-based tablets. However, for applications to be compatible with Kindle Fire, it cannot be built through APIs because it only runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
If Google would like to preserve its own version of Android applicable on tablets, then it must have devices that will be able to directly compete with the Kindle Fire. Based on recent reports, Google is more likely introduce a Nexus tablet this 2012. Moreover, the Nexus tablet would be offered at a more affordable price, for the purpose of competing with Kindle Fire.
In addition, it is also important to mention that other Android manufacturers are beginning to go into the market of budget tablets. For instance, Samsung released the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, which cost $250. The tablet features Android's latest operating system, the Ice Cream Sandwich, and Google's app store.
While the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 is not as cheap as Kindle Fire, it has a higher RAM and a few of the benefits of ICS. Products like Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 could allow Google to maintain the competitiveness of Android on tablets.
