That said, Amazon is a retail powerhouse in its own right, and it’s safe to assume that is a popular destination for those looking to pick up a Kindle device. The second question is: Does this really matter? Of course, it seems all but inevitable that the loss of Walmart will result in fewer Kindle products sold. Neither company has publicly admitted to a pro-Apple, anti-Amazon strategy. It’s possible that a similar situation is happening with Walmart, which began testing the same mini Apple Stores at some locations back in April. When Target decided to break ties with Amazon, many speculated that Target sought to appease Apple, with whom it had recently partnered to launch a number of “mini Apple Stores” housed within Target retail outlets. “In particular, the new Kindle Fire devices are designed specifically to drive traffic to the Amazon store, so Walmart was selling devices that were created specifically to take future sales away from them.”Īnother theory is that Apple is to blame. “An educated guess… is that Walmart dropped the Kindle because Amazon is directly competitive across their entire business,” Hargreaves told Digital Trends. Why did Walmart drop Amazon? One theory is that Amazon’s online retail business has simply become too strong a competitor for Walmart, and the company has simply decided to stop boosting a competitor’s bottom line.Īndy Hargreaves, an analyst with Pacific Crest, says he does’t “know the answer” for certain, but would bet on this theory.
The smaller Kindle Fire HD starts at $200, while the 8.9-inch version starts at $300, or $500 for the 4G LTE version.
Like Walmart, it continues to carry various accessories for Amazon’s products.Įarly this month, Amazon unveiled a number of new Kindle devices, including the Kindle Paperwhite e-reader, and the Kindle Fire HD tablet, which comes with either a 7-inch or 8.9-inch screen. Target became the first major retail chain to stop selling Amazon’s Kindle products back in May.
A number of Kindle accessories, like covers and e-book lights, remain available. A quick search on shows offerings from Apple, Samsung, Acer, Asus, Barnes & Noble, and many others. As measured in tumble tests, Fire HD 10 is 1.7x more durable than the latest iPad 10.2. Amazon engineers Fire tablets to hold up against everyday life. While the Kindle lineup is no longer available through Walmart or Sam’s Club stores, a broad range of other tablets and e-readers are still for sale. Enjoy up to 12 hours of reading, browsing the web over wifi, watching videos, and listening to music from anywhere. Amazon did not immediately respond to our request for comment, and has declined requests from other publications. Walmart has confirmed the authenticity of the memo with Reuters. “This includes all Amazon Kindle models current and recently announced.” “We have recently made the business decision to not carry Amazon tablets and e-readers beyond our existing inventory and purchase commitments,” reads Walmart’s memo to store managers. This marks the second big box store to halt sales of Amazon devices since the beginning of the year. Walmart will no longer sell Amazon Kindle e-readers and tablets, according to a company memo obtained by Reuters. “They should have made this decision to not carry the Kindle a long time ago. Now, with two large chains no longer selling Kindle, speculation has grown that the dominant online retailer could open its stores where shoppers could try out and buy Kindles.Īmazon “is a little bit of a Trojan horse” when the Kindle is sold in other stores, said Sucharita Mulpuru, retail analyst at Forrester Research. This spring, Target Corp stopped selling the products.Īmazon has already tested physical stores for other goods. This allows Amazon to compete with stores on more lines of merchandise. Owners of Kindle tablets such as the new Kindle Fire HD can shop on the devices for millions of items beyond digital books. The world’s largest retailer, which has been trying to catch up to Amazon in online sales, said the decision was consistent with its overall merchandising strategy. A Walmart store, that was destroyed by a tornado and later rebuilt, is seen in Joplin, Missouri May 17, 2012.
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