Amazon's future Fire tablets will probably run Android

Amazon's tablet series is soon to undergo significant changes. According to various sources familiar with the plans, Amazon is planning a new and higher-priced tablet model that will use Android as the operating system for the first time instead of the Fire OS developed in-house. This Android tablet from Amazon could be released as early as next year. The project is running internally under the name "Kittyhawk", but could be delayed or even scrapped due to various influences, especially financial ones.

Amazon has so far relied on a highly modified and customized version of Android called "Fire OS" for its Fire tablets. Users are dependent on Amazon for the installation of apps and cannot choose freely from Google's Play Store. This allows Amazon to sell the hardware almost at cost price. This is because the company profits considerably from the apps, for example through the sale or rental of films, TV series or music.

However, software developers therefore have to release different versions of their apps if they want to serve Amazon as well as Android and Apple tablets. This limits the selection of apps for Fire tablets. Amazon also restricts itself to simpler tablets with a limited range of functions in order to keep costs low and make it easier for buyers to get started. This in turn excludes users who are looking for higher-quality and more powerful tablets.

Amazon's Android tablet more expensive than Fire tablets

Around two years ago , Amazon unveiled its largest tablet to date, the Fire Max 11, starting at 270 euros. Not only is it optionally available with a stylus and keyboard cover (at an extra charge), it is also Amazon's first tablet with a fingerprint sensor. This model should appeal to the latter target group, an Android tablet would be the next step, as Reuters exclusively reported, citing six people familiar with the project.

According to the report, the Android tablet from Amazon would cost significantly more than the previous Fire tablets. Internally, a price of 400 US dollars has been discussed, almost twice as much as the Fire Max 11, which is available in the USA from 230 dollars. 400 dollars would already put Amazon on a par with the cheapest iPads, which Apple sells for 350 to 1200 dollars. The specifications of Amazon's first Android tablet, such as screen size or memory capacity, are not yet known.

Amazon tablet with open source Android

However, the sources also explain that this tablet model will use the open source version of Android, so that Amazon is not directly dependent on Google and can adapt the operating system for its own purposes. Before this Android tablet is released, however, Amazon is planning a number of cheaper tablets with the Linux-based Vega operating system, which already powers various Fire TV devices. In the long term, however, Amazon's tablet range will be completely converted to Android, it is said.

The name of this project is probably based on the town of Kitty Hawk in the US state of North Carolina, where the Wright brothers first flew a self-made motorized aircraft in 1903. However, Kittyhawk was also the name of a failed flying car start-up by Google co-founder Larry Page, which burned through hundreds of millions of dollars before being wound up in 2022.

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