Wal-Mart will no longer sell Amazon's Kindle eReaders and tablets. The announcement by the world's largest brick-and-mortar store-chain comes at a time when Amazon recently unveiled a new wave of tablets, including the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD that would take on the new iPad runner-up Google Nexus 7, and an 8.9-inch model that would take on the market-leading $499 iPad. Another retailer, Target, stopped selling Amazon products in May. Wal-Mart said it would just sell the remaining inventory, thus won't have the new Kindle Fire tablets for the lucrative holiday season.
What Else You Need To Know
- Amazon's new Kindle Fire tablets are priced from $159 (the 8GB, revamped version of the 2011 Kindle Fire) to $599 (64 GB, 4G version of 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD).
- The Amazon Kindle Fire was the best selling Android tablet in last year's holiday season.
- Wal-Mart said it would keep selling "a broad assortment" of other tablets, eReaders and accessories. Wal-Mart sells Apple's iPad, Barnes & Noble Inc.'s Nook, Google Inc's Nexus 7, Samsung's Galaxy Tab and other tablets and eReaders.
- According to experts, Wal-Mart could be seeing Amazon as a competitor. The Kindle Fire shows ads of products sold by Amazon online. Wal-Mart recently built its own shopping search engine that would rival Amazon's.
Other sources
No actual reasoning was given beyond the conventional company line, but one has to wonder if Walmart isn't somehow considering getting into some of the businesses that it was previously helping Amazon push.- Darren Murph, engadget
In order for Walmart to continue to gain strength, it has to axe the competition from their stores. In essence, both Target and Walmart sees Amazon as a competitor to their core business.- Michael Kozlowski, Good E-Reader
- Other
-
Exclusive: Wal-Mart stops selling Amazon Kindles
Owners of Kindle tablets such as the new Kindle Fire HD can shop on the devices for millions of items beyond digital books. This allows Amazon to compete with stores on more lines of merchandise.
- Engadget
-
Walmart to stop selling Amazon's Kindle line of readers and tablets
You might say that Walmart would never, ever start hawking its own e-readers, but crazier things have happened -- Best Buy has an entire brand devoted to in-house goods, and Amazon itself has expanded from an online storefront for laundry detergent and bestselling novels to a bona fide hardware mainstay.
- GigaOM
-
Walmart, following Target, stops selling Kindles
The company recently built its own shopping search engine, which it is now deploying on Walmart.com, and it takes cash for online purchases.
- Other
-
Walmart Fires the Kindle
This is about price: Walmart can’t get the margins it wants from Amazon.
- IntoMobile
-
Walmart to stop selling Amazon’s Kindle line
The move makes Walmart the second major retailer to stop selling the Kindle tablets; Target stopped selling Amazon’s eReaders and Kindle Fire tablets back in May.
- SlashGear
-
Amazon’s Kindle readers and tablets booted from Walmart shelves
We can’t help but wonder if this is just to cut the helping hand they’ve been giving the competition, or if Walmart is looking to get into hardware themselves. Best Buy has Dynex and Insignia, could Walmart be preparing something of their own too?
- Good E-Reader
-
Walmart to Discontinue Amazon Kindle e-Reader and Tablet Sales
If you were to ask me? I would say that Amazon is quickly sparking diminishing sales with the traditional big box stores with their free shipping for Amazon Prime members and more people prefer to shop with Amazon in the USA then say a Walmart.
- All About Symbian
-
Walmart removes all Amazon Kindles from store shelves
Holiday season is quickly approaching and the decision to stop selling Kindles could affect Walmart’s sales, but the company refused to disclose profit margins on the devices and how many it sells.
- Tech Radar
- Wal-Mart dumping Amazon Kindles
- The Wall Street Journal
- Wal-Mart Shows Kindle the Door
- More...