Tablet prices are plunging amid a flood of new devices and cutthroat competition for market share.
Amazon has slashed prices of its Kindle HD tablets to as low as $169 in the US and 139 pounds in Britain, while Barnes & Noble has cut the price of its Nook to as low as $129, and has announced plans to outsource production of its tablets.
"Since Hewlett-Packard launched its tablet, there has been a lot of pressure on prices," said Rob Enderle, analyst with Enderle Group.
HP sells its Android-powered seven-inch Slate for as low as $139, helping make the paperback-size tablet computer an affordable commodity.
A Gartner survey suggests tablet sales globally will rise 67.9 percent to 202 million units this year, but analysts say the market is cooling after a couple of years of sizzling growth.
Gartner said the red-hot growth in tablets and smartphones will taper off as these devices gain longer life cycles. The report said many consumers are opting for "basic" tablets to cut costs.
"It looks like the market may be tiring of tablets and as makers get desperate, you may see more pressure on prices," Enderle said.
Some retailers are selling tablets for less than $100, but Enderle said the flood of poor-quality devices may eventually backfire and turn off consumers.
Jitesh Ubrani, analyst at the research firm IDC, said many of the low-cost tablets come from small, sometimes unbranded "whitebox" vendors.
"The decline of the PC market makes it increasingly important for PC vendors to compete in the tablet space," Ubrani said"As more top-tier brands introduce low-cost products, we expect to see a reduction in the number of whitebox vendors."
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