UPDATED 12:51 EDT / DECEMBER 07 2012

Breaking Analysis: Amazon’s Astronomical Appstore Surge, Stoking the Fire with Kindle Tablet Changes

Amazon announced yesterday that app downloads in the Amazon Appstore have increased more than a staggering 500% this year. SiliconANGLE Contributing Editor John Casaretto attributed this tremendous growth to their Kindle Fire tablet line, including its latest, the Fire HD. He said, “The Amazon Appstore has an exclusive place on that device, so it’s an eco-system that’s synergistic and the market is growing in line with that.”

Amazon has had its own Appstore for Android devices for a year and a half now, but most Android phones have Google Play as the default appstore. Since Amazon’s Appstore isn’t pre-installed on many mobile devices, Casaretto said it’s unlikely that consumers went out and downloaded the Amazon Appstore on their own, but rather this is the work of its homebase of Kindle users, driving up the number of downloads. He also said, “There’s also strong developer support that’s really made this happen . . . to create these applications for
these tablets and get these things to market.” Amazon also announced support for A/B testing to help developers.

Amazon is making improvements on two important features in its Kindle Fire tablet series, the Voice Guide and Explore by Touch. Casaretto discussed the changes to these navigation tools in depth. Amazon is trying to reach a wider consumer based with these improvements, including vision-impaired readers and those with learning disabilities. Casaretto believes these changes will help Amazon compete with the likes of the iPad,
Microsoft Surface and other Android tablets, such as the Galaxy Tab and Nexus 7, especially since its beginning price point is attractive to consumers.

Amazon is not known for their affinity with the U.S. government and paying taxes. Casaretto summarized Amazon’s financial activities over in Luxembourg, which is essentially building them a tax shield from corporate taxes both in Europe and in the U.S.

As an update to the Tim Cook interview with Brian Williams that was aired on NBC’s “Rock Center” last night, Williams tried his best to persuade Cook to reveal any Apple-TV related details, but Cook merely referenced the old cartoon “The Jetsons” and said, “We’re living The Jetsons with this.” Casaretto attempted to speculate what Cook could have meant by this. He said, “The Jetsons really captured a lot of people’s imaginations . . . because there was a lot of innovative technology dreamt up in that show.” He hypothesized that out of
all the things most feasible from the Jetsons technology, it would be the talking TV that interacts with its users. One can only imagine the possibilities around this type of innovation, but whatever it is, according to Cook, it’s going to be something we won’t be able to live without once we have it. See the entire segment with Kristin Feledy and John Casaretto on the Morning NewsDesk Show.


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