It's not that Best Buy has no chance introducing its own tablet against the likes of Apple, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, etc. Let's just say that the company better be bringing its "A" game if it's going against these competitors that are rolling out new tablets heading into the holidays employing record setting advertising budgets to drive sales.
So first things first. According to Reuters, Best Buy's new "Insignia Flex" tablet will be priced somewhere between $239 and $259 and is intended to compete directly with rival Amazon's Kindle Fire HD tablet and perhaps even Apple's new smaller sized iPad, expected to be introduced next week.
The Insignia Flex, which will be sold exclusively by Best Buy, will operate on Android software and come with "a dual-core 1GHz processor, 9.7-inch screen and 10-hour battery life," according to Reuters.
A Washington Post article questions the pricing of Best Buy's new tablet, suggesting "the best strategy for Best Buy would be to head for the $200-and-under crowd." The piece accurately points out, however, that Best Buy does not have content to sell to help it in lowering its price, as do some of its rivals.
One thing is sure, rivals will be spending big on new tablets and smartphones to gain share.
"We've got an unprecedented number of significant launches from vast global players in a short period of time and the combination of those three things is creating this tsunami of advertising," says Shaun Collins at the mobile research specialist CCS Insight, told The Guardian. "It's as big a quarter as we've ever seen. The level of commitment each of these players is willing to put behind a mobile launch shows how valuable it could be if they get it right."