Good news for Amazon’s Kindle Fire is that it could be poised to be a serious competitor to the iPad. Bad news for Google and its Android operating system, which the Fire runs on, is that if it does rival the iPad, Google probably won’t see much benefit.

Forbes cites analyst Shaw Wu of Stern Agee, who sees bright things in Amazon’s future because of the newly-introduced Kindle Fire.

“We believe Amazon has great potential to turn the tablet space into a two horse race,” Wu wrote in a note to investors Friday.

Google loses out because although the Kindle Fire runs on Android, that’s not really evident. That lack of presence in the $199 tablet, which runs a tight ship of Amazon apps, greatly lessens its impact.

“The exclusion of Android apps and services allows Amazon to capture these revenue opportunity greatly limits Google to make money off the Kindle Fire,” writes Wu.

Amazon’s Android-Based Tablet Spells Trouble For Android, Analyst Says [Forbes]

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