Amazon Plans to Launch 8.9-inch Kindle Fire This Year
Amazon is planning to launch an 8.9-inch Kindle Fire tablet later on this year, according to a new report from Reuters.
This new larger Amazon device will be created to go head-to-head with the king of the tablet market, Apple, whose iPad currently dominates that arena.
The company has enjoyed much success thanks to the device's high sales at the end of 2011 becoming the only real competitor for Apple in the tablet market.
With the 1.9-inch increase for the next model, it is unclear whether Amazon will raise the price of the Kindle Fire that goes for just $199 while the cheapest iPad sells for around $399.
The device currently dominates half of the Android tablet market. It has sold over 5 million units, according to the latest data.
Amazon is also rumored to be launching a new Kindle eReader that will feature a front-lit screen that is similar to the glowing eReader that Barnes and Noble released recently.
Other reports have stated that Amazon is planning to launch three new Kindle Fires this year, including a low-end version of the 7-inch model with a resolution of 1024 x 600, a medium to high-end 7-inch model with 1280 x 800 resolution, and this new high-end 8.9-inch model.
Recent data collected by a research firm known as ComScore showed that Amazon had accounted for 54.4 percent of the Android tablet market thanks to the sales of the Kindle Fire.
It holds a larger share than Samsung's Galaxy Tab line that only controls 15.4 percent.
Motorola with its XOOM line and ASUS with the Transformer tablets account for just 14 percent of the tablet market combined.
Amazon seems to be climbing up the ladder with tablets, and with this attempt at going toe to toe with the iPad, the company could conquer even more of the market.
