Amazon reportedly plans to change its component purchasing strategy for Kindle Fire and will make all the decisions itself instead of relying on ODMs, according to sources from the upstream supply chain. However, the rumors have not been confirmed by Amazon, while the company's upstream ODM partners Quanta Computer and Compal Electronics have also declined to comment.

The sources pointed out that supply chain management will be the toughest challenge for content suppliers that wish to enter the hardware industry. Supply chain players' gross margins will also be impacted if their clients decide to handle component purchasing themselves, the sources said.

Quanta shipped 15 million tablets in 2012 and is the largest Kindle Fire manufacturer. Although 30% of Kindle Fire orders in 2013 were taken by Compal Electronics, Quanta will still have a chance to ship 18-20 million tablet in the year with orders from Google and Acer.

The new Kindle Fire will be shipped from the supply chain in April and is expected to show up in retail channels in May.

Compal is expected to ship 8-10 million tablets and Wistron six million units in 2013.