Kindle Fire May Retail for $199, but Amazon is Paying $249 Per Unit

Will the Kindle Fire be the first tablet since the HP TouchPad to take a loss on every unit sold? Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster seems to think so, telling AllThingsD that Amazon is “likely losing about $50 per Kindle Fire.” He says this without providing any data to support this assumption. But Munster is known for making accurate predictions. While his estimate may not be 100% accurate, $249 isn't that much less than the $318 Hewlett-Packard HPQ spent on every TouchPad. Follow me @LouisBedigian