Amazon is expected to announce some kind of tablet PC device before the end of the year and one analyst is already predicting that the retailer could sell a boatload of those products before the end of the year. A new report from Forrester Research predicts that Amazon could sell "3 million to 5 million units in Q4 alone." If that happens Amazon could become the biggest competitor to Apple"s iPad in the tablet space.
Amazon is expected to use Google"s Android operating system for its tablet. Forrester predicts, "Apple will maintain a strong lead in market share, but Amazon will gain ground quickly and give product strategists from media, software, retail, banking, and other firms a reason to kick app development for Android tablets into high gear." So far Android based tablets such as the Motorola Xoom and the Samsung Galaxy Tab haven"t made much of a dent in slowing down sales of the iPad.
Of course, this report has two big assumptions for its sales predictions. One of them is that Amazon"s tablet will launch at the right price. One rumor about the tablet says that Amazon will price it at hundreds less than the iPad. The other assumption in the report is that Amazon will be able to supply enough tablets to meet the expected demand. As we have seen with the iPad, if demand is high enough it might cause issues with being able to fulfill all of the sales orders. Amazon has not commented on this new report.