Aug 30, 2011 11:24 AM,

Amazon tablet to change the game for Android, says Forrester

By Michelle Maisto

Android tablet apps may be in the minority right now, but the Amazon tablet, 5 million of which could sell in Q4, will change that says Forrester. 'Get ready.'

Amazon is expected to go "head to head" with Apple, disrupting the tablet market and creating the "only credible iPad competitor in the market," Forrester Research Analyst Sarah Rotman Epps announced in a blog post yesterday.

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The firm has introduced a new report on its expectations of Amazon's entrance into the tablet market, which it believes will be helped by an Amazon peculiarity. While Apple's primary revenue comes from hardware, Amazon, wrote Rotman Epps, is in a position to swallow a loss on that front.

"Amazon’s willingness to sell hardware at a loss, combined with the strength of its brand, content, cloud infrastructure and commerce assets makes it the only credible iPad competitor in the market," wrote Rotman Epps.

As the industry quickly learned, following consumer response to Hewlett-Packard's deeply discounted TouchPad (Unfiltered: iPad who? $99 HP TouchPad selling like gangbusters), attractive pricing is also essential.

"If Amazon launches a tablet at a sub-$300 price point — assuming it has enough supply to meet demand — we see Amazon selling 3-5 million tablets in Q4 alone," she added.

A successful Amazon tablet — in addition to further straining Amazon's relationship with Apple — will also have a bigger-picture impact, reports the firm. While Google's tablet-optimized Honeycomb platform has so far attracted fewer than 300 custom apps, millions of Amazon tablets entering the market are likely to change that.

Further, more than just a kick in the pants for developers, a successful Android-running Amazon tablet will impact more widespread strategy decisions, wrote Rotman Epps, as media, retail, banks and other industries that have invested in iPad apps but shied from Android are suddenly "scrambling" to adopt Android-tablet apps as well.

In short: "A year from now, 'Amazon' will be synonymous with 'Android' on tablets, a strong second to Apple’s iPad," Rotman Epps forecast. "If you haven’t yet contemplated how Apple-Amazon tablet domination will change your product strategy, now is the time to plan and act."