Amazon to Release New 10-inch Kindle Fire

Rumor has it that Apple is planning to release 7-inch iPad mini to face Amazon's 7-inch Kindle Fire. Amazon then answered by planning to release 10-inch Kindle Fire.

As reported by CNET, Amazon will release the larger Kindle Fire, 10-inch Kindle Fire, as part of efforts to secure a place in the middle of the iPad dominated market. With a 10-inch screen, Amazon is really going to put Kindle Fire as main rival to iPad, since it also has the same screen size.

Meanwhile, Digitimes reported, Amazon has asked Foxconn Electronics as the ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) for the 10-inch tablet, soon to be released in the first semester of 2012. The successful 7-inch Kindle Fire is manufactured by Quanta Computer, the manufacturer that also produces Barner & Noble's Nook Tablet.

Vendors usually pick one ODM when launching a new product. But as written by Digitimes, they will then seek additional ODM to reduce risks and to adjust price if the new product is getting possitive response from the market.

According to IHS iSuppli, Amazon has sold 3.9 million Kindle Fire, while Barnes & Noble Nook sells 1.92 million tablets in the fourth quarter of 2011. Digitimes Research estimates that 1.5 million Kindle Fire and 300,000 Nook Tablet will be sold in the first quarter of this year.