Kindle Fire launch next month to shake up UK tablet market

Amazon finally unleashes device on UK consumers with prices beginning at £129

Amazon Kindle Fire devices will hit the UK for the first time next month, with analysts claiming the online retail giant may have made the "good-quality tablet segment accessible to the mass market for the first time".

The company unveiled the latest iterations of its tablet device at an event yesterday, included a souped-up version of the original Fire and a new HD model (pictured). Both of these will be available in this country from 25 October, with prices starting at £129 and £159 respectively.

Also unveiled was a larger 8.9-inch-screen model, representing an even more direct competitor to the iPad. Available from November, this will only be sold in the US for the time being.

Francisco Jeronimo, research manager, European consumer wireless and mobile communications at IDC EMEA, gave the new products a glowing endorsement, and claimed it "provides a richer user experience" than low-cost rival the Google Nexus 7.

"Amazon has announced not just a great tablet from a hardware perspective, but has bundled it with great services and content, significantly improved the user experience, and is bringing it to consumers at a price that will make the (good quality) tablet segment accessible to the mass market for the first time," he said.

"All smartphone and tablet players need to watch the revolution that Amazon is making carefully. They have been shouting about how important it is for them to develop an ecosystem, how great the hardware is, [and] how good their services are.

"But the bottom line, it is now clear, is that they haven't really executed, or understood, what they are preaching. And they are now probably looking at the Kindle Fire HD specs and calculating the bill of materials to figure out if they can compete with those prices, failing to understand the broader picture and trend."