Amazon has unveiled its Kindle Fire tablet computer, which will sell at less than half the price of the iPad 2.
But the world's largest online retailer is not distributing the device in this region.
The Firegives Amazon an additional means to boost its sales of digital books, films and music.
"Content is king for any kind of gadget you're trying to sell, and Amazon have got a lot of content," said Thomas Shambler, the editor of Stuff Middle East magazine.
At 7 inches high, the US$199 (Dh730) tablet is smaller than the iPad 2, and it runs on Google's Android operating system.
The Fire also signals Amazon's arrival in the applications market as it launched an app store for the tablet.
"Apps are key here. Amazon already have an apps store for Android, so it makes sense to leverage what they already have for the platform [Android system] into a tablet of their own," said Mr Shambler.
These developments from Amazon follow on from the success of its Kindle e-reader, which the company said had helped it to sell more e-books than print books so far this year.
"They don't carry the costs of shipping or distribution or printing, or any of that," Mr Shambler said.
Amazon is to use a similar approach in selling content on the Fire. It has already expanded its video library after signing an agreement with Fox this week to instantly stream more than 11,000 films and TV shows to Amazon Prime members.
But tying consumers into only certain content is one downside of this tablet, said Mr Shambler. Another issue is that the cheaper device has fewer features than the iPad.
The Fire has no camera, a lower screen resolution and a slower processor.
Amazon "would have to take a cut in terms of functionality. I don't think you'd be able to produce a product as good as the iPad for significantly cheaper than Apple sell it for, without there being some sort of trade-off," Mr Shambler said.
Apple has physical stores and online stores across the globe, including in the UAE.
"Amazon doesn't quite have that," said Ashish Panjabi, the chief operating officer for Jacky's Electronics. "They have got that in the US in terms of working with the retailers, or in the UK through Dixons, but they don't have that in this part of the world."
There is no official source for the hardware here, so any Kindle Fire that is sold here would be available only on the grey market - a disadvantage for Amazon in competing with Apple's global presence.
