Amazon’s Future Tablet Will Support 8 Less Fingers Than the iPad

We recently told you about Amazon’s upcoming consumer tablet that’s set to release later this year. The rumored device is expected to be a revolutionary upgrade to the current Kindle, and it will most likely be marketed to compete directly with Apple’s iPad.

Amazon has its own music, movies, books, and online retail infrastructure to go head-to-head with Apple, but what it apparently won’t have is similar multi-touch support. While the iPad’s touchscreen display supports 10-finger gestures, Amazon’s tablet will only support 2-finger gestures…

Instead of designing the upcoming tablet itself, Amazon will be outsourcing the design and manufacturing of the device to a partner overseas. Amazon is aggressively looking to undercut the iPad’s $500 entry price by finding cheap suppliers, and that translates to cheaper touchscreens.

The iPad’s gorgeous, hi-res display allows you to perform complicated multi-touch gestures, and certain apps for the iPad require more than two fingers to perform complex actions— painting apps and Apple’s own Garageband app are prime examples.

Amazon’s strategy is a classic example of how Apple’s competitors struggle to match features and instead try to undercut the iPad’s price point with cheap build quality. While it’s true that most multi-touch gesture only require 2-finger gestures, this news about Amazon’s upcoming tablet isn’t a good sign of the device being anything more than a drop in the bucket. We have yet to see one competitor even come close to the iPad’s sales.

Do you think Amazon stands a chance against the Apple and the iPad? If Amazon can’t succeed in the tablet space, who else can?

[9to5Mac]