Amazon launches Alexa Tablets with Android OS and Alexa+, prices rise to S$740
Amazon has launched a new line of tablets called Alexa Tablets, the first to run on Google's Android OS and feature the Alexa+ voice assistant. Prices start at S$230 and go up to S$550, a significant increase from the Fire HD 10.
SAN FRANCISCO – Amazon on Thursday unveiled a new line of tablets called Alexa Tablets, the first to run on Google's Android operating system and feature the advanced Alexa+ voice assistant. Prices start at US$230 (S$307) and go up to US$550, marking a significant increase from the company's previous Fire HD 10 tablet which cost upwards of US$180.
The Seattle-based company had been working on the tablets under the code name Kittyhawk, as Reuters reported exclusively last year, to move away from its limited Fire OS software. Fire OS was a forked version of Android that drew complaints from consumers and app developers. The new Alexa Tablets feature aluminum cases, a switch from the plastic used in Fire tablets.
The top Alexa Tablet, with 128 gigabytes of memory, costs US$550, compared with an Apple iPad for US$450 and Samsung's Galaxy tablet for US$550. The product revamp marks a new strategy under devices chief Panos Panay to move upscale and away from the inexpensive gadgets Amazon sold at or near cost to hook customers into using Prime Video, Kindle, music apps and the main e-commerce website.
Alexa+, an advanced AI-powered version of the Alexa voice assistant, will feature prominently on the devices to help perform actions or answer questions using generative AI. Accessing Alexa+ on the tablets will require a Prime membership or Alexa+ subscription, Amazon said.
Amazon is pushing the pricier devices as worldwide tablet sales are falling, down 12 per cent in the second quarter from the year before to 33.6 million units, according to IDC data. The US market, which has been especially hurt by a shortage of memory chips, saw sales plunge 32 per cent in the second quarter year over year, IDC data showed. Amazon held just 1.9 per cent of the global tablet market in this year's second quarter, down from 8 per cent a year earlier, according to IDC.
The tablet prices do not include a one-time fee customers have to pay to turn off advertising displayed on the lockscreen, though the highest-priced Alexa Tablet will not have the ads. It will require a one-time US$20 fee to eliminate the ads, up from US$15 for Fire OS tablets, a spokesperson said.
