Amazon to boost Kindle Fire production - sources

PanARMENIAN.Net - Amazon apparently has reason to believe that its unreleased Android tablet is a hot seller, CNET reports.

The Internet retail giant recently increased its Kindle Fire orders to 5 million units for delivery before the end of 2011, sources from upstream component suppliers have told DigiTimes.

Amazon has increased its Fire Fire order volume once before, from 3.5 million units to 4 million. That may seem like pretty heady confidence for a device customers haven't even gotten their hands on, but Amazon is estimated to have recorded nearly 100,000 unit sales on the first day it was available for preorder and sold at a rate of about 20,000 units a day for the next six days.

The Kindle Fire, which will ship to consumers beginning Monday, November 14, marks Amazon's first foray into the tablet market, which has so far been dominated by Apple's iPad. But analysts believe the Kindle Fire's low $199 price tag - most tablets retail for around $500 - could help make it the first legitimate competitor in an area where many other high-end Android tablets have missed the mark.

Indeed, the Kindle Fire is expected to slow the sales growth of the iPad, according to a recent consumer survey. Five percent of respondents said they had preordered the Kindle Fire or were likely to do so soon. Of those 5 percent, 26 percent indicated that they will delay the purchase of Apple's iPad, the report says.