Amazon made big news this weekend (well they tend to make big news a lot), not for drones, robots or fresh delivered groceries, but for offering financing to just about anyone that wants their new Kindle Fire HDX tablet.
The Kindle Fire HDX is their newest, biggest, baddest tablet which is thinner, lighter and has a better display than the iPad Air, at least according to this commercial. But in all actuality the device is a work horse tablet with the Amazon, Kindle economy built right in.
The Kindle economy is actually great for Amazon. While it’s a no-brainer that Kindle users would use more of Amazon’s services than non-kindle users, last week a report form the Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) revealed that Kindle owners spend on average $1233 per year in Amazon purchases while non Kindle owners spend an average of $790 per year.
So it makes perfect sense that Amazon wants to get as many Kindle products into the hands of consumers as possible. And while you could always purchase any Kindle device from Amazon directly, and even apply for Amazon credit, they’ve now opened up the floodgates with a new no-interest payment plan for the Amazon HDX.
The Kindle Fire HDX offer works like this, you go to this link and accept the terms of the agreement. Add any Kindle Fire HDX device to your cart and Amazon will charge your card 25% of the cost of the Amazon HDX tablet. Then, every 90 days Amazon will charge you 25% again until you’ve made four equal payments.
You can pick between the original HDX at just $57.25 per payment for a total of $230 or the larger Amazon Kindle HDX 8.9 for just $94.75 per payment for a total of $380. The choice is yours.
This may seem like a risky move for Amazon, but it’s not.
Venturebeat reported on Monday that Amazon may partially brick your Amazon HDX tablet for non-payment or they may kill your Amazon account all together.
Venturebeat asked Amazon what would happen for non-payment and they replied:
If we are not able to charge any payment to a card on file in your Amazon.com account, our remedies will include the right to deregister your Kindle Fire HDX device, which will block your ability to access Amazon content from your Kindle Fire HDX device, and suspend or terminate your Amazon.com account. You agree that we and our affiliates have no liability related to the exercise of these remedies
Venturebeat’s Ricardo Bilton, postulated that this could be a case where Amazon just isn’t moving enough Kindle Fire tablets and they are trying to do whatever they can to boost sales. While that could be a fair assumption, sources have told Techfaster that a successful roll out of this payment mechanism could pave the way for Amazon to bill for other products with quarterly payments.
