Amazon Softens Price of Kindle Fire HD 8.9" to $269

It may have taken awhile for Android tablets to hit their collective stride, but these days there are a several worthy options. What's more, the prevalence of quality Android slates has driven down the cost of entry and forced vendors to lower the price on existing models. So it goes with Amazon and it's Kindle Fire HD 8.9" slate.

The large screen version of Amazon's best selling tablet now sells for $269 in the U.S., down from its previous price of $299. An even bigger price cut comes to the 4G version, which now sells for $399 instead of $499. The savings coincide with the Kindle Fire HD 8.9" launching in several new territories today, including the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Japan.

Kindle Fire HD 8.9"

"We’re thrilled with customer reaction to Kindle Fire HD 8.9". Customers tell us they love our large-screen version of Kindle Fire HD for web browsing, email, gaming, watching TV shows, reading magazines, and more," said Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. "As we expand Kindle Fire HD 8.9” to Europe and Japan, we’ve been able to increase our production volumes and decrease our costs. Across our business at Amazon, whenever we are able to create cost efficiencies like this, we want to pass the savings along to our customers."

Amazon took the lower-cost Android tablet market by storm when it first introduced the original Kindle Fire, and with these price cuts, it's looking to stave off a growing number of competitors. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9" at $269 represents a pretty good value for a large-size slate that boasts a 1920x1200 resolution.