Amazon boss Jeff Bezos (above) unveiled the easier-reading Kindle Paperwhite and talked up latest Kindle Fire yesterday, as the e-retailer ramped up its fall offerings. (EPA)
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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is stepping up his war for tablet dominance — a battle that will be waged largely on price.
And Wall Street seems to like it.
Enthusiastic investors pushed the e-commerce giant’s stock to an all- time high just minutes after it unveiled a new line of e-readers and tablets meant to keep the heat on the iPad and other rivals.
One of the tablets introduced by Bezos has a larger 8.9-inch screen to better compete with Apple’s industry-leading 10.1-inch iPad.
The new Fire tablet, upsized from the original 7-inch screen and with a longer battery life, will cost $299 — or $499 for a 4G model. An updated 7-inch Fire HD costs $199.
Bezos is continuing his strategy of producing low-cost hardware to power digital sales and media consumption.
“We want to make money when people use our devices,” Bezos said at the product demo in California yesterday.
Amazon shares closed up 2.1 percent, to $251.38.
The executive showed off a back-lit $179 Kindle e-reader with Paperwhite technology that counters Barnes & Noble’s Nook GlowLight.
Amazon also upgraded its hot-selling tablet with a new Kindle Fire HD version that comes with the option of a bigger screen, increased memory, and wireless data plan.
The price of the original, updated Fire was cut to $159.
So far, Wall Street is backing Bezos, despite falling profit margins within the company as it pays to populate its ecosystem with devices and content.
Earlier this week, the company struck a deal with Epix, estimated to cost up to $100 million a year, allowing Amazon to stream more premium movies to its Prime members.
“The strategy for Amazon remains building share of the media content market as well as reinforcing a higher rate of Amazon e-commerce activity for Kindle users,” Barclays analyst Anthony DiClemente wrote in a note to clients.
Amazon was one of the first tablet makers to capture a substantial part of the market — after Apple — thanks to its aggressive pricing. Google put some pressure on earlier this summer with a 7-inch, $199 Nexus tablet to compete with the Kindle Fire.
The Fire has taken 22 percent of the US market since its launch, according to Amazon. The popularity appears to have prompted Apple to develop a mini iPad, which is expected to be announced next month.
The new Kindle Fire “may help to stave off some share gains from the Google Nexus 7 and a possible iPad mini entrant,” DiClemente said.
Amazon wants to compete at every price point, Bezos said.