iPad Shipments and the Amazon Tablet

Digitimes is reporting that "Foxconn is expected to ship 20 million units of iPad 2 to Apple, a growth of 60% sequentially, and the orders should be the major growth driver for the company in the second half." This is a significant increase for Foxconn. However, in the meantime, Digitimes also reports that Amazon is about to release their own Tablet computer. As per Digitimes:

Mass production of Amazon's 10.1-inch tablet PC reportedly will be conducted in the first quarter of 2012 with Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) to handle the orders, according to sources from upstream component suppliers.

Amazon's 7-inch tablet PC, which is supplied by Quanta Computer, is expected to start shipping in October. In addition to the tablet PC, Amazon also outsources its Kindle e-book reader to Foxconn with an estimated volume of 15-18 million units, accounting for 60-70% of global e-book reader shipments of 25-30 million units in 2011.

Jason Raznick over at Forbes Magazine believes that the launch of the Amazon Tablet is the beginning of the end of Apple iPad's dominance of the tablet market. As per Raznick:

Amazon has long followed the Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) model of giving customers the razor head, and charging for the razors. Amazon can afford to give away the Kindle and likely its new tablet at near breakeven prices, or perhaps a slight loss, as long as it sells copious amounts of software. It also wants you to buy products from Amazon on its devices, another plus. That business model has made the Kindle the world’s #1 e-reader, and could pose a serious threat to the dominance of the iPad in the tablet space

Either way two of Taiwan's biggest OEMs (Foxconn and Quanta) will continue to benefit from the growth in the Tablet computer market.