Amazon on Thursday debuted a set of new, pricier Alexa tablets and said it's ditching its budget-friendly Fire lineup, marking a significant shift in the e-commerce juggernaut's devices strategy.
The company unveiled 8-inch, 11-inch and 12-inch models, which start at $230 and run up to $550. All devices are available for preorder on Thursday and will begin shipping Oct. 14.
Amazon has historically sold its devices at or near the cost of manufacturing them, partly to undercut competitors with extremely cheap prices, but also with the goal of promoting its other products and services. It's hoped that for every $80 Echo smart speaker it sells, users will purchase movies, audiobook subscriptions or items from its sprawling webstore, which tend to have higher margins.
The company has recently taken steps to make more money from its devices business under CEO Andy Jassy, who succeeded founder Jeff Bezos in 2021. Last year, it introduced pricier versions of its Echo smart speakers and began charging non-Prime members a subscription for Alexa+, the souped-up version of its digital assistant.
The $550 Alexa Tablet 12 Pro costs more than double the price of the $155 Fire HD 10, Amazon's base model, and puts it more in line with Apple's iPad, which runs from $449 to $1,199.