Amazon could sell five million tablets in Q4 - Inquirer

BOOK AND DVD FLOGGER Amazon could sell as many as five million tablets in the fourth quarter, according to analyst firm Forrester research.

If Forrester is right, that will make Amazon, which is expected to price its upcoming tablet well below competing products, Apple's top competitor.

If Amazon can also have enough supply to meet demand, it can "easily" sell three million to five million units in the final three months of 2011, said Forrester's Sarah Rotman Epps.

Apple has sold almost 30 million Ipads since launching its tablet in April 2010.

Epps said, "Thus far, Apple has faced many would-be competitors, but none have gained significant market share. Not only does Amazon have the potential to gain share quickly but its willingness to sell hardware at a loss, as it did with the Kindle, makes Amazon a nasty competitor."

If Amazon sells a significant number of tablets, Android will also become more attractive to developers, Epps added. "If Amazon's Android-based tablet sells in the millions, Android will suddenly appear much more attractive to developers who have taken a wait-and-see approach."

Apple has around 100,000 custom-built Ipad apps, while Google's Android Honeycomb operating system has fewer than 300 apps, according to Forrester. µ