New data from online ad network Chitika indicates that Amazon's Kindle Fire is one of the hottest tablets around this holiday season. Earlier reports suggested that the tablet might be slowing down a bit but the latest stats paint quite a different picture.
Following strong Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, usage of the Kindle Fire on Chitika's network soared at the end of November and continued to climb through December 6, the last day that Chitika reported.
Market research firm eDataSource believes that Amazon may have sold upwards of 850,000 tablets from the initial launch to December 1. HIS iSuppli anticipates Amazon will ship nearly 4 million Fires during the fourth quarter. If correct, this would give Amazon a 13.8 percent tablet market share. Apple currently holds 65.6 percent of the market while Samsung maintains a 4.8 percent share.
Despite a somewhat limited set of features, the Kindle Fire has been a hit with consumers based on its low price point of $199. In contrast, Apple's iPad 2 starts at $499.
BlackBerry maker RIM has struggled to move excess inventory of PlayBook tablets since its introduction earlier this year. The company recently slashed prices on the tablet to $199 for the holidays which boosted sales at several retailers. Best Buy sold out of PlayBooks on the first weekend of lower prices and stock at Newegg suffered the same fate.
It seems the latest method to battle Apple in the tablet war is to significantly undercut their pricing model.