Amazon Tablet to undercut iPad price by hundreds

The long rumored iPad-killer that could be Amazon’s upcoming tablet is expected to launch sometime in September or October. But with the recent $99 fire sales of the discontinued HP TouchPad doing amazingly well, there are new reports that Amazon may introduce their tablets at a similarly low price point to excite the masses.

According to the New York Post, an insider source has revealed that the Amazon tablet will sell for “hundreds less” than the entry-level iPad, which retails for $499. Although that doesn’t mean the tablet will go for $99, it does mean it could be sold at most around $299. This sounds about right if Amazon is going the budget tablet route, as recent contenders in that space, such as the Vizio 8-inch Tablet, have had to drop down to that price point.

Amazon is also known to take loss leaders with extreme discounts made up for by increased volume and distribution of other content and services from the Amazon ecosystem.

The two rumored Amazon tablets include an entry-level 7-inch model codenamed “Coyote” and a higher-end 10-inch model codenamed “Hollywood” that’s also expected to sport a quad-core NVIDIA Kal-El processor. Previous rumors had pegged the retail price for these tablets at $349 and $449, respectively. But with the way the market has been developing with the recent webOS casualty and the iPad still predicted to control the tablet market through 2013, Amazon may just get much more aggressive.