Amazon expected to launch new tablet

Analysts believe Amazon can sell 3 million to 5 million tablets in the fourth quarter.

Amazon is expected to unveil a tablet computer Sept. 28, picking a fight with Apple Inc. and its iPad. The iPad has many challengers and has proven popular with schools, but analysts say Amazon’s tablet could be different—it has a chance to be more than just a wannabe.

Amazon.com Inc. is nearly unique in its ability to sell content such as eBooks, movies, and music suited for a tablet, just like Apple does. In addition, the “Kindle” tablet could be a reminder, right in the owner’s hands, to buy general merchandise from Amazon, simply by adding it to your Amazon shopping cart.

Read more about computer tablets in higher education…

A classroom in your eBook?

Campus survives the ‘iPad jitters’

“In essence, the Kindle is a Trojan horse for Amazon’s retail and media brands,” said Morgan Keegan analyst Justin Patterson.

Seattle-based Amazon hasn’t confirmed that it’s launching a tablet, but it’s holding an event in New York on Sept. 22, with its CEO Jeff Bezos speaking.

With the iPad, Apple has created a whole new product category of tablet computers. Many have tried to copy its success, but so far, the iPad is the only really successful product. Apple sold 28.7 million of them from April 2010 to June 2011. Analysts at research firm Gartner Inc. expect the iPad to account for three out of four tablet sales this year.

Analysts believe Amazon’s new tablet will come in two sizes: one with a screen that’s 7 inches on the diagonal, a bit larger than the Kindle e-reader, and one that’s 10 inches, slightly bigger than the iPad.

They also expect Amazon to subsidize the cost of the tablet, on the expectation that it will make the money back when owners buy things through the tablet.

That might allow the company to undercut Apple on price, something other manufacturers have had a hard time doing. Apple’s profit margin on the iPad, which starts at $499, is lower than it is for many of its other products, particularly the iPhone.