The iPhone 5 launch on Wednesday, Sept. 12, is sure to be the most important event for tech investors this year. The Motley Fool will be hosting a live chat where our top tech analysts will answer your questions and break down what the announcement means for Apple and tech investors everywhere. Be sure to swing by Fool.com at 12:45 p.m. ET tomorrow for all your coverage of Apple's next big announcement.
Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos is not known for his vast reserves of modesty.
His own employees delete random portions of their product presentations just to keep his "giant alien brain" interested. Bezos doesn't just run charitable foundations but is exploring space tourism with his own money. The secret of Amazon's success? "If you're going to invent, you're going to disrupt," Bezos says. He simply had to get used to making enemies along the way.
Even against that backdrop, Jeff Bezos still knows how to stir up fresh controversy.
On the eve of Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) introduction of the next-generation iPhone, Amazon released a brand-new line of Kindle tablets. You might think the $199 price point of the Kindle Fire HD was a competitive advantage over Apple's iPad line, but that's not how Bezos wants you to see it.
"We have the best tablet at any price," he told AllThingsD last week. The price point was set in 2011, when Amazon wanted to "build the best tablet at a certain price," but this one's just better than anything else. "Take away the price and it's still the best tablet."
Apple would most certainly disagree, and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) might prefer its G-branded Nexus 7 tablet over Amazon's nearly Google-free Android product. But Bezos wants to make the best tablet, and the Fire HD is his best shot at the moment.
This holiday season will provide an honest litmus test for that bold statement. The iPad 3 and Nexus 7 will start showing their age by then, while the Kindle Fire HD remains pretty fresh. Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) throws its hat in the ring with a plethora of Windows 8 tablets, including its own Surface. And who knows what Samsung, HTC, and other traditional Android vendors might come up with?
This will be something like an eight-way duel at 10 paces, with the duelists slinging tablets at one another like ninja stars. The tablet market is maturing enough that this holiday season starts shaking out the winners from the also-rans.
To help you keep tabs on this amazing race, we've created premium reports on both Amazon and Apple. These reports give you deep insight on each company's current opportunities and challenges, and they come with a full year of timely updates to keep you informed. For example, the Apple report already includes a separate dissection of Wednesday's crucial iPhone 5 launch. Get started with the Amazon report here, then add our Apple insights over here.
