There was a lot of discussion about whether or not Amazon was making or losing money on each Kindle Fire it sold when the device first launched, and with Google recently introducing its Nexus 7 tablet, many are wondering if Google is in the same boat. Based on a preliminary teardown analysis by IHS iSuppli, it appears Google and Amazon are employing a similar strategy in the 7-inch tablet space, with only about $20 separating each one's respective slate.

Google figured out the key to fighting fire -- Amazon's Kindle Fire, that is -- is with a similar sized Nexus 7 device rocking Jelly Bean (Android 4.1). That strategy may ultimately work, but don't expect Amazon to roll over and concede defeat as the one offering the second best selling tablet in the world. Instead, Amazon is reportedly getting ready to fire back with a second generation Kindle Fire device slated to arrive on virtual store shelves in August.

With devices like Amazon's Kindle Fire and the upcoming Surface by Microsoft freeing would-be tablet buyers not interested in the iPad from the tyranny of Apple's ecosystem, there's something in the tablet space for everyone, regardless of platform affinity (webOS notwithstanding). What that's going to do over the course of the next several years is propel demand for tablet PCs past that of traditional notebooks, though don't mistake that to mean laptops are dead.

Entry level and/or low-cost tablets are beginning to burn bright in the market place, and none more intense than Amazon's Kindle Fire, currently the second best selling tablet on the planet behind Apple's iPad. Call it a glorified eBook reader if you want, the thing is selling well no matter which category it gets squeezed into, and though the competition is ramping up efforts to compete in the same category, Amazon isn't sitting idly by. On the contrary, there's talk of a Kindle Fire 2 device shipping in July.