Mobile and Connected Device Strategies

There seems to be a price war heating up in the tablet market, as companies try to compete with the likes of Google and Amazon with their $199 Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD devices, respectively. But how low can they go?

According to a CNET report, Archos has given at least one answer to that question by introducing a $119 tablet run on the Android platform. The Archos 70 Titanium will be available in February and will feature a 1,024x600-pixel display and 8 GB of storage. Both of those features match that of the original Kindle Fire, which Amazon is offering for $159. Archos’ device also comes equipped with a microSD slot and front-facing camera, neither of which comes with the older Kindle Fire.

Yankee Group Senior Analyst Boris Metodiev comments

“There is a slew of cheap tablets on the market nowadays, but those devices manufactured by second tier brands usually lack quality to such level that even with the low price tag they don’t present good value for the money. Until Archos’ new tablets hit the market we can’t comment on their quality, but the company has never been famous for building the most refined devices. There are lots of things missing from the specs sheet to be able to evaluate if it really is a bargain at such a low price. And you can’t judge a device based only on specs, since its performance is what it is important.

Bottom line, I find it hard to believe that anyone can match Amazon’s Kindle Fire or Google’s Nexus tablets for both price and quality. Both companies openly admit that they don’t make money from the hardware and they don’t need to, since they make their profit from consumers using their tablets. The difference is that a manufacturer like Archos needs to make money from its devices, and building a tablet for $119 suggests that the company compromised on its quality.”