“Negative ads seem to work better on voters than consumers,” Quentin Fottrell reports for MarketWatch. “Earlier this week, Amazon released – then pulled – an ad on its home page that portrayed Apple’s new iPad mini as vastly inferior to its own Kindle Fire HD. Amazon’s comparison chart also claimed the Mini had a ‘mono speaker.’ In fact, the iPad Mini has a stereo speaker, an Apple spokeswoman says. (Amazon did not respond to requests for comment.)”
Fottrell reports, “The advertisement was not only a bad call because of the error, analysts say, but also because Amazon cherry-picked just a few technical specs for comparison… Consider, for example: The iPad Mini has two cameras, while the Kindle Fire HD has just one. Apple also has over 700,000 apps; Kindle Store only has less than 58,000 apps.”
“As the biggest online retailer on the planet, Amazon is being frozen out by bricks-and-mortar stores: In September, Wal-Mart pulled the Kindle Fire from its stores; Target stopped selling it in May,” Fottrell reports. “Studies carried out even before the release of the iPad Mini and fourth-generation iPad found that Amazon may have to fight for a share of the tablet market. Even before Apple announced that the new tablets would land on November 2, Apple’s tablet share by units shipped hit 68% in the second quarter, according to research firm IDC, while the Kindle only had 5%.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple’s new iPad mini sold out in New York City stores – November 2, 2012
The Independent reviews Apple’s iPad mini: High-end gadget is worth the price – October 31, 2012
CNET reviews Apple’s iPad mini: The new standard for little-tablet design – October 31, 2012
NYT’s Pogue reviews Apple’s iPad mini: ‘All the iPad goodness in a more manageable size; it’s awesome’ – October 31, 2012
USA Today’s Baig reviews Apple’s iPad mini: ‘A splendid choice; terrific for reading, watching movies and playing games’ – October 31, 2012
Mossberg reviews Apple’s iPad mini: ‘An impressive feat; the perfect solution’ – October 31, 2012
Like Target before them, Walmart stops selling all Amazon Kindles – September 20, 2012
Target to stop selling Amazon’s Kindle, outfit stores with special Apple iPad displays – May 2, 2012