As Amazon braces for a tablet battle with Apple, the Seattle-based company saw its biggest decline since 2008 after its shares fell 13 percent on Wednesday.
The Internet-retailer’s drop comes just a day after the company announced that its net income decreased 73 percent to $63 million in the third quarter, compared with a net income of $231 million during the same quarter in 2010.
The news comes just weeks after Amazon unveiled its first tablet, the Kindle Fire, in an effort to battle Apple and its popular iPad tablet.
Amazon is hoping that by selling its tablet at a discounted price–$199—they can take a bite out of Apple’s iPad sales.
Amazon founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos said in a statement that Sept. 28—the day it introduced the Kindle Fire—was the biggest order day ever for Kindle. The company started taking preorders just hours after its much-anticipated announcement. Bezos also introduced an army of other Kindle’s that same day, with one device priced at $79.
“In the three weeks since launch,” Bezos said, “orders for electronic ink Kindles are double the previous launch. And based on what we’re seeing with Kindle Fire pre-orders, we’re increasing capacity and building millions more than we’d already planned.”
The tablet will allow people to watch movies, read books and magazines, play games and use apps, but it does have some drawbacks, however. The Kindle Fire doesn’t have an embedded camera and doesn’t offer 3G access. The tablet will come with a free 30-day trial of Amazon’s Prime service—a $79 yearly membership service that streams movies and TV shows.
