COMMENTARY | The new Kindle Fire tablet has been Amazon.com's best-selling product for weeks now because of two things: It's being aggressively promoted on Amazon.com (even taking over the search results for "iPad"), and it's an iPad-style Kindle that costs less than half of the iPad's price.
Not everyone's happy with the Fire, though. In its listing on Amazon.com, nearly a third of the reviews give it 3 stars or fewer, while more than 1 in 10 give it 1 star. Judging by the complaints -- and by professional usability studies like Jakob Nielsen's -- it's clear that Amazon cut some corners when making the Fire.
So what did Amazon do, to get the Fire's price below $200?
Sold Kindles at a loss
According to IHS iSupply, the Kindle Fire costs more than $200 to make. $201.70, in fact, counting in parts and manufacturing. (Maybe it'd cost less if Amazon used underage workers like some Chinese factories apparently do, but let's not go there.)
Why would Amazon sell its tablet at a loss, though? Because the Kindle Fire is to Amazon as the Apple Store is to Apple: Its physical storefront. And with one-click ordering, plus no password or confirmation needed, you (or your kids, or a thief) can order whatever you want from Amazon.com as fast as you can push buttons. Especially books, movies, and apps that can all be used instantly on the Fire.
Rushed Kindles out the door
Reviews like the AP's Peter Svensson's -- or the customer reviews on Amazon -- make it clear: The Kindle Fire is a "beta" product. It's slow, and some features just plain don't work, or at least work poorly.
The fact that it has those features means that it seems competitive, on comparison charts like the one Amazon.com puts in your face if you search for "iPad." But as tech writer (and Instapaper developer) Marco Arment points out, the Fire doesn't compare so well if you actually take into account things like its "Infuriatingly Awful" magazine reading experience, and "Frustratingly Sluggish" overall speed.
The Upshot
Is the Kindle Fire still worth it? Maybe, to people for whom the $499 iPad is out of reach, or who are otherwise used to sacrificing quality for quantity. And with a software update on its way, which arguably should've been there to start with, some of the most frustrating issues might soon be fixed.
It's unlikely that Amazon will be able to add hardware volume controls or a faster processor in this update, however.
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