Amazon launched a new Alexa-branded tablet lineup and announced it is discontinuing its value-focused Fire series.

Amazon says the new Alexa tablets are faster, more powerful, feature AI capabilities and upgraded designs, justifying the higher prices, with products positioned against "the best tablets on the market."

Prices range from $230 to $550, with shipping starting October 14.

On Thursday, Amazon.com (ASX: AMZN) unveiled a new, more expensive Alexa tablet series and said it will stop producing its entry-level Fire lineup, marking a major shift in the e-commerce giant's hardware strategy.

The launch includes 8-inch, 11-inch and 12-inch models, with starting prices of $230 and a top price of $550. The full lineup went up for preorder Thursday, with shipping beginning October 14.

Amazon historically sold hardware at prices close to manufacturing cost, using ultra-low prices to pressure competitors while driving consumption of other products and services. The company's logic was that every $80 Echo smart speaker sold could lead users to buy movies, audiobook subscriptions, or place orders on its vast e-commerce platform, businesses with much higher margins.

Since Andy Jassy, who succeeded founder Jeff Bezos as CEO in 2021, took over, Amazon has begun adjusting its strategy in recent years, aiming for the hardware business itself to generate more revenue. Last year, Amazon introduced a higher-priced Echo smart speaker and began charging non-Prime members a subscription fee to use the upgraded AI version of its Alexa voice assistant.

The top-end $550 Alexa Tablet 12 Pro costs more than double Amazon's base Fire HD 10 at $155, putting its price range on par with Apple's iPad ($449–$1,199).

The new product launch comes as Amazon and other hardware makers face tight memory chip supply. In August, Amazon raised prices on Echo, Kindle, Fire TV and other hardware, citing the memory chip shortage. Earlier this year, Apple raised prices on MacBook and iPad, and Nintendo also raised the price of its Switch 2 console.

Amazon is launching three Alexa-branded tablets, fully replacing its existing tablet lineup. Image source: Amazon.

Amazon denied that memory chip price increases were the reason for the higher Alexa tablet prices. But Panos Panay, who heads Amazon's hardware business, acknowledged that the chip shortage has made it "quite tricky" for manufacturers to build premium tablets at a reasonable price without compromising the product experience.

"I think the team did a great job completing the product design without compromises or trade-offs," Panay said in an interview. "The product has full, refined craftsmanship while staying within this price range."

Amazon says the new Alexa tablets deliver faster computing speed and better performance, feature artificial intelligence capabilities and upgraded designs, justify the higher pricing, and perform on par with "the very best tablets on the market."

Product upgrades include a more premium unibody aluminum alloy back cover, higher-resolution screens and more powerful processors. The top-end Alexa Tablet 12 Pro features a "nano-matte" display technology co-developed with Corning (GLW) that can significantly reduce screen glare.

One of the most important changes: all tablets in the lineup run Google's native Android system, a sharp contrast with previous generations. Older tablets used Amazon's custom Android-based Fire OS, which only allowed access to Amazon's own app store, limiting the number of available apps.

This is also the first time Amazon has grouped an entire hardware lineup under the Alexa brand. The Alexa voice assistant first debuted in 2014 with the Echo smart speaker. On the new tablets, Alexa is a core feature, with dynamic cards on the home page that push content recommendations and let users pick up where they left off reading or watching. Users can simply say "Alexa" or tap an "Ask Alexa" button to ask questions.

Amazon added a "Screen Smart" feature: users can have Alexa recognize what is displayed on the screen and offer suggestions or directly perform actions. In a demonstration, Panay showed a user watching a barbecue cooking video on TikTok and directly asking Alexa to order the burger press tool used in the video; users can also pull up a game schedule and add all match dates to their calendar with one tap.

"Alexa will do your homework for you and, when the conditions are right, bring up the shopping list directly. I tap Buy Now and the order is placed," Panos said.

Amazon said it will continue to provide support for four years after the final shipments of Fire series products, and existing users can continue to use their devices as normal; however, the company will no longer produce new Fire tablets. The Fire lineup included 10-inch and 8-inch standard versions as well as two kids' tablet models.