Kindle Fire

Amazon's Prime and punishment

Is the retail giant's rewards program profitable? Probably not. Is it a vital part of the company's future? Almost certainly.

FORTUNE – Launched in 2005, Amazon Prime aimed to get customers to spend more. For $79 a year, members got free two-day delivery on an unlimited number of items. Amazon sweetened the pot from there. Last year, it introduced Prime Instant Videos, an unlimited movie and TV streaming service similar to MORE

iSuppli: Amazon shipped 3.9 million Kindle Fires last quarter to Apple's 15.4 million iPads

According to this report, the iPad's chief competitor was not the Fire but the iPhone 4S

Amazon (AMZN) had a one-time shot to loosen Apple's (AAPL) hold on the worldwide tablet market, and it grabbed a 14% share last quarter according to a report issued Thursday by IHS's iSuppli.

Although the iPad managed to hold on to a 57% share, that was down from 64% in Q3 and less than IHS had MORE

How many times have we heard about a smaller Apple iPad?

A Google search turns up 114 million hits, but that couldn't be right. Could it?

The Wall Street Journal was getting a lot of play Tuesday morning with a report out of Taiwan that Apple (AAPL), to "broaden its product pipeline" and respond to "intensifying competition," was testing a new smaller tablet with a screen size of about 8 inches.

Color us skeptical.

First of all, we don't sense that Apple MORE

ChangeWave survey: Demand for Kindle Fire slipping

Chief complaints: lack of volume control or camera and that the battery life's too short

They liked the price, the color screen and the selection of books on Amazon (AMZN). They wish it had a volume control button and a camera and that the battery lasted longer.

Those are some of the results of a survey of 254 Kindle Fire owners conducted in January by ChangeWave Reserach, a service of 451 Research.

54% MORE

Today in Tech: Did the Kindle Fire sell better than expected?

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"Piracy may not be a bad thing: it can get us more business at the end of the day."
-- Mikael Hed, CEO of Angry Birds-maker Rovio Mobile (The Guardian)

* Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jordan Rohan raised his estimates for sales of the Kindle Fire during the fourth quarter from five MORE

How much of the school tablet market belongs to Apple?

100% according to a survey of educational technology directors conducted in October

In the wake of Apple's (AAPL) iPad textbook announcement Thursday, it might be useful to take a second look at Piper Jaffray's October survey of 25 school technology directors. The sample is small, concedes Gene Munster, who conducted the survey, but so is the population IT decision makers in U.S. schools.

Among his findings:

Apple has a virtual lock on the MORE

iPad sales estimates for Q1 range from 11.7 to 19.5 million

The Street's consensus: 13.5 million. The indies are 10% more bullish

Everybody we've heard from expects Apple (AAPL) to report record iPad sales for the quarter that ended Dec. 31.

And why not? Tablets were a popular gift item this past holiday season. The iPad 2 didn't face much competition -- except perhaps from Amazon's (AMZN) Kindle Fire. And although there were rumors of an iPad 3 coming in March or April, MORE

Conan O'Brien fixes the Fire

The tech-savvy comedian used the occasion of Amazon's (AMZN) first software update to poke fun Tuesday night at the Kindle Fire -- and show his bias in favor of Apple's (AAPL) iPad 2.

Via Minyanville.

If Amazon's Kindle Fire is so hot, why is it still in stock?

A spot check of retail sales a week before Christmas raises an interesting question

In a note to clients issued Monday, Hudson Square Research's Daniel Ernst reported on the results of a pre-holiday scouting trip he took to retail stores in New York and Connecticut over the weekend -- only a handful of shopping days before Christmas -- where he found "floor traffic up materially, but lines at checkout short."

Demand for MORE

Morgan Stanley: Apple may sell 190 million iPhones next year

A proprietary survey finds demand for iPads and iPhones much stronger than expected

The results of an AlphaWise survey of U.S. consumers conducted for Morgan Stanley the week after Thanksgiving was full of surprises, reports Katy Huberty in a note to clients issued late Wednesday.

iPhones are selling surprisingly briskly. Based on the survey and last week's comments from AT&T (T), Huberty estimates that Apple (AAPL) could ship anywhere from 31 to MORE