Amazon Could Launch 7-Inch and 10-Inch Tablets

Amazon’s rumoured venture into the tablet market will reportedly see it launch two models – a seven-inch Android tablet due to start shipping in October and a larger 10-inch model which is expected to go into mass-production in the first quarter of next year, Digitimes reports.

The strategy would seem to indicate that Amazon is covering its bases. Many e-reader users who have experience with both lighter seven-inch devices and the larger 10-inch devices say it is easier to read on a seven-inch device. But many users may want the e-reader application, but intend to use the tablet more generally, in which case, larger screens are better.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has predicted that an Amazon Android tablet would perfectly compliment the retail giant’s existing Kindle devices to help the company sell as many as 2.4 million portable devices in 2012.

Although Amazon has yet to confirm it is working on a tablet device, industry analysts and component suppliers have already provided insights into the company’s Android tablet, suggesting that the company could also be working on a mobile handset.

Munster bases his predictions on a recent report by Creative Strategies analyst Tim Bajarin, suggesting that Amazon could release a 10-inch tablet, and possibly a seven-inch tablet, at the end of this year to coincide with the holiday season. Most observers think Amazon will offer subsidized versions intended to entice consumers to buy Amazon content.

Amazon's tablet strategy could see 2012 launch for 10-inch model: