Amazon is offering a $50 discount on its leading Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch tablets to students in Jan. 2013.

Amazon released the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD in November this year and the tablet has been among the company's most popular devices in the holiday season. With a starting price tag of $299, the Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch gives stiff competition to rival tablets. To thwart competition, Amazon is giving a further $50 off to Amazon Student members, which may attract many students looking for a tablet.

Only Amazon Student members with an active Prime account are eligible for the deal. However, the company is letting students who aren't Prime members sign-up to take advantage of the deal. If you want to become an Amazon Student member then simply sig- up using your .edu e-mail address.

"Place a Kindle Fire HD 8.9" or a Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G LTE Wireless in your cart. At checkout, enter the promo code KNDL4STU. If you are an Amazon Student member in a free or paid Prime plan, the discount will be applied to the items in your cart. This promo code may be redeemed once per customer. offer good only while supplies last," notes Amazon.

The offer is valid on both Kindle Fire HD 8.9 Wi-Fi-only model and the 4G LTE variant. The $50 discount means that the Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch 16GB Wi-Fi only version will now be the same price as the 7-inch 32GB model of the Kindle Fire HD.

Currently, the Wi-Fi-only model comes in 16GB and 32GB variants, which are priced at $299 and $369, respectively, before the discount. The 4G LTE version comes in either 32GB or 64GB on-board storage with a price tag of $499 and $599, respectively, before applying the $50 discount.

Amazon claims that it has a massive selection of over 150000 books students need for class, which can be either purchased or rented through Kindle Textbook Rental.

If you are a student, will you take advantage of this discount offer from Amazon?