Why Amazon won't launch its own tablet, but will use Apple's

Per Ars Technica, recent moves by Amazon pertinent to its Kindle reader indicate Amazon is unlikely to launch its own tablet.

The company recently offered royalty fees to ebook publishers and then followed it up by announcing the availability of an SDK and the launching of a Kindle app store. And while EA Mobile's participation in the Kindle app store has led some analysts to suggest Amazon may have a non E-ink-based tablet capable of video waiting in the wings, Ars Technica's Jon Stokes thinks otherwise.

Part of the Kindle's success is Whispernet, the pre-paid, unlimited Internet access that comes with it. This model has worked because the Kindle's E-Ink display's combo of low resolution and slow refresh rate ensures the bandwidth load that any app can put on Whispernet is very low. But it would not be true of a media tablet that would have to rely on WiFi or 3G, the price of which would be high.

Moreover an Amazon tablet would simply be another me-too product in a deepening sea of Wifi-enabled, portable media players, including a myriad of generic models from China. Amazon's hopes to distinguish it will rely on making it the exclusive platform for its Kindle store. But that in turn would only isolate the Kindle store against competitors like Google Books, Barnes & Nobles, and Hearst who are making their contents available on as many devices as possible.

Furthermore, Amazon has just bought e-book reader software maker Lexcycle, so it's likely the company plans to bring the Kindle Store to many different mobile devices than it is that they'll launch their own tablet.