Amazon plans to release a $50 budget tablet later this year

Amazon and Apple have always approached the tablet market from different angles, Amazon from the low-end to mid-range side and Apple from the high-end side. It’s worked out pretty damn well for both companies, but with the tablet market continuing to shrink, the two of them have had to really step up their game. As for how Amazon is coping with the ever-shrinking number of tablet sales, the company is reportedly taking budget-friendliness to the next level with a new $50 tablet that’s expected to launch before the holidays. 

Amazon.com Inc. has struggled to draw customers to its pricier tablets. So it’s going further down-market. The Seattle online retailer plans to release a $50 tablet with a 6-inch screen, in time for this year’s holidays, according to people familiar with the matter. That would make it one of the least-expensive tablets on the market and half the price of the company’s current Fire HD 6-inch tablet. The move would potentially attract buyers looking for a simple—and effectively disposable—device for straightforward tasks like streaming video at home and shopping on Amazon.com. But such inexpensive tablets typically come with compromises like inferior screen quality, durability or battery life in comparison to more expensive tablets like Amazon’s larger Fire tablets and industry-leading devices like Apple Inc.’s iPad. For instance, the $50 device will have a mono speaker, rather than stereo, one of the people said. The $50 device is part of a slate Amazon is planning to release this year that will also include tablets with 8-inch and 10-inch screens, according to the people familiar.