There's a lot of debate on whether the Amazon Kindle Fire impacts Apple's iPad sales to a significant degree. One notable analysts believes that Amazon's tablet makes a huge impact on Apple. Morgan Keegan analyst Travis McCourt believes that the competition is so fierce that the Kindle Fire's recent success has cost Apple more than $1-billion (say it like Dr. Evil). Check out the details below, as well as my take.
Boy Genius Report surmises:
Morgan Keegan analyst Travis McCourt on Tuesday lowered his December-quarter iPad sales estimate from 16 million units to 13 million. Hot sales of the Kindle Fire ahead of the holidays are responsible for trimming sales of Apple’s iPad by between 1 million and 2 million units, the analyst believes, making Amazon’s new slate the main reason for McCourt’s slashed forecast. Read on for more.
On the low end of McCourt’s estimate, the Kindle Fire cost Apple at least $500 million considering the iPad 2′s $500 entry-level price point. If the Kindle Fire was indeed responsible for cutting iPad sales by 2 million units, Amazon tablet sales cost Apple a minimum of $1 billion. Considering the range of available iPad 2 models that sell for between $500 and $830 each, however, that figure would likely be significantly higher.
It's a huge number and it'll get tons of attention, but I don't necessarily agree with McCourt. Are there some Kindle Fire owners that bought a Fire instead of an iPad? Of course there are. I don't think the number is as high as McCourt thinks it is. I believe that the majority of the people that bought the Kindle Fire did so because it was relatively inexpensive. They bought it because it offers a ton of tablet computing at a great price, but the majority didn't buy it "instead" of an iPad. Due to the iPad's comparatively high price, they were never going to buy an iPad 2 to begin with.
Of course there's no way to determine McCourt's prediction or my belief outside of asking every Kindle Fire owner in the world and getting honest answers from them. What do you think? Do you agree with McCourt's assessment? Did the Kindle Fire really cost Amazon more than $1-billion in iPad sales?
[Via: Boy Genius Report]
