Seattle — Amazon is pumping up tablet competition by dropping the prices of its Kindle Fire HD 8.9 tablet by $30 for the Wi-Fi version and by $100 for the 4G version.
Both versions became available in the U.S. late last year. Amazon cited the economies of scale that will accrue now that it has opened up distribution to Europe and Japan.
The prices of the 16GB and 32GB Wi-Fi tablets drop by $30 to $269 and $299, respectively, for the models that display Special Offers ads. Without the Special Offers ads, the prices are $284 and $314, respectively.
The 32GB 4G tablet drops by $100 to $399, and the 64GB version drops to $499. The prices are with Special Offers ads. Without the ads, the prices are $414 and $514, respectively.
Features include 1,920 by 1,200, 254-ppi display, Dolby audio, stereo speakers, dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi, front-facing HD camera and 10 hours of battery life.
