Amazon has made another stride in the Indian market by listing the Kindle Fire HD tablets on its website. The retail giant will start rolling out the tablets and e-readers in India from 27 June onwards.
The website which made its debut in India last week, initially offered books, film and television titles. And now, the popular Kindle Fire HD tablets and Paperwhite e-reader are up for grabs.
Both the 7-inch and 8.9-inch display tablets come with Android 4.0.3 OS, dual-band Wi-Fi, Dolby Audio with dual stereo speakers, and are available in 16GB and 32GB variants. Instead of Google Play apps, the tablet will feature Amazon's own app store that has over 1.9 million apps and games along with the world's largest collections of eBooks.
"Not only does Kindle Fire feature advanced hardware, it's also a service," said Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. "The combination of the leading apps, the largest book selection, great email and browsing and top rated customer service, we hope our customers in India will agree that Kindle Fire HD is the best tablet for a great price."
The high-end Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch and Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablets are priced at ₹21,999 and ₹15,999, respectively.
The 6-inch, sleek e-reader is available for ₹5,999, while the Kindle Paperwhite - a 3G enabled e-reader with high resolution screen, is priced at ₹13, 999.
Starting 27 June, Kindle Fire HD will also be available at over a hundred retail outlets including Croma, Reliance Digital, E-Zone and Vijay Sales stores located in various cities across the country.
With its own app store, higher-end processors and similar prices, Amazon is placing a defensive foot against its rivals Samsung and Apple to cash in on the burgeoning Indian market.
According to research firm IDC, the overall tablet market in India has reached approximately 2.66 million units in 2012. Samsung is India's top tablet vendor with 15.76 per cent share, followed by Micromax at 13.33 per cent and Apple at 9.92 per cent.
