Amazon Prepares $50 Tablet For Christmas Launch

Rumours of Amazon’s withdrawal from the devices industry may yet prove to be premature, as reports claim the ecommerce giant is set to launch a cut-price tablet device.

The 6in device will cost just $50, half the price of the current lowest-priced Fire tablet, and will launch during the Christmas shopping season as the retailer looks to snag a slice of the booming mobile device market.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon is also planning to launch an 8in and 10in edition of the tablet as it looks to build up its mobile device portfolio once again.

Comeback?

Reports last month had suggested that Amazon was set to cut its losses in the mobile hardware industry following several disastrous months for its Fire line of devices, which included both smartphones and tablets.

The company has apparently has let go “dozens” of engineers who worked on the Fire phone as part of a wider cutbacks to Lab126, Amazon’s hardware development division, whilst also delaying or shutting down other hardware projects.

However the Lab126’s phone unit was apparently merged with the tablet and e-reader team following the struggles of the Fire phone, meaning they could well be behind this latest device.

Launching a cut-price tablet device around Christmas could prove to be a clever move, as past years have shown that such a strategy can pay off.

Not much was expected of Tesco’s Hudl tablet when it was announced back in the winter of 2013, but the £119 device quickly sold out, with the supermarket unable to keep up with demand and ultimately releasing a second generation device, the Hudl 2, for Christmas 2014.

Check out TechWeekEurope’s list of the top 10 tablets for businesses here!

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