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Amazon’s New Kindle 3 Is Selling Well
October 4, 2010
Amazon’s recently upgraded Kindle 3 reader is selling like hot cakes. According to Amazon, it is selling faster than any previous edition of Kindle did in the equivalent post launch period. It’s a very different scenario to the death of the Kindle which was widely forecast in the wake of the Apple iPad’s release.
In spite of all the hype surrounding the iPad, and despite the criticism about the lack of a color screen, the inability to play video and a web browser which is basic at best, Amazon has tenaciously maintained its position that the Kindle is a specialist device which is intended to be used primarily as an e-book reader. The result of this is that the Kindle reader is, by some distance,currently the best and most popular e-book reader available on the market.
The latest third generation Kindle features a host of improvements and upgrades. However, it’s clear that these are all intended to improve the performance of the Kindle as an e-book reader rather than to introduce new functions in different areas which might make the device more multi-functional.
One of the most critical characteristics for any e-book reader is the display. The already excellent e-ink technology display has had its contrast increased by 50%. This means that it is even better to read on. The display remains the same size at 6″ across the diagonal – but the overall size and weight of the Kindle has been reduced.
In addition to the size and weight reduction, modifications to the QWERTY keyboard – it now has four rows of keys instead of five – the use of smaller page turn buttons, and the repositioning of the D-pad switch, make the Kindle even easier to use with only one hand than ever. Navigating on the new Kindle is very easy indeed.
The battery life has also been extended. Up to a month between charges is now possible with the Wi-Fi switched off. Memory storage is doubled from 2GB to 4GB. That’s sufficient for up to 3,500 books.
One of the biggest innovations has to be the introduction of a Wi-Fi only model priced at only $ 139. This is perfect for someone who doesn’t have any requirement for 3G connectivity. The Wi-Fi plus 3G model is on sale for $ 189. Which one you choose will depend upon your own individual needs – but the fact that both have lifetime internet access included in the purchase price, and that there are no monthly fees, remains a big advantage for the Kindle.
Although the Kindle success story looks pretty much unstoppable right now, Amazon are not getting complacent about its ongoing development. They are actively researching color e-ink technology screens, investigating the option for touch screens that maintain the readability of the current e-ink technology and looking into ever faster refresh rates for their displays. It’s even rumoured that they might be thinking about developing other personal electronic items. Amazon is certainly not resting on its laurels.
However, it seems clear that any new technology will be introduced only when it is fully developed and at a stage where it will enhance the end user experience. Amazon are not about to release a color screen just because the iPad has one, or a touch screen simply because Sony’s reader has one. They seem determined to make their top selling e-book reader the very best – of its kind – on the market. It’s a strategy that seems to be working be very well for them.
Learn more about the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.
The E-Book Reader Market Is Entering A New Phase
August 28, 2010
E-books and e-book readers have been hot gadgets for quite some time now. In 2009, the e-book reader market really took off, and one of the major influences in this was the launch of Amazon’s Kindle.0 in February of that year. Amazon followed up with the large format Kindle DX in the summer of 2009 and, in the second half of the year, it seemed that electronics manufacturers were queuing up to launch their own e-book readers and get a share of the hot new market. The fact that practically every new reader which displayed any potential was immediately christened the “Kindle Killer” should give some idea of just how influential Amazon was to the market’s development. The Kindle reader was, very definitely, the industry standard that required to be matched and then beaten.
However, there was nothing to suggest that any new reader which would offer serious competition to the Kindle was anywhere in sight. It wasn’t until the launch of the Apple iPad – a very different device – that there was any serious threat to the Kindle’s dominance. Even then, the death of the Kindle as a result of consumers turning to the iPad just doesn’t seem to have materialised. Shortly after the release of the upgraded third generation Kindle in August 2010 Amazon, for the umpteenth time it seems, had sold out of the devices and prospective customers faced a wait of several weeks before their new readers could be shipped.
Certainly, the high sales figures of the upgraded Kindles were driven, to a certain extent, by a price cut. Amazon introduced a new Wi-Fi only Kindle for just $ 139 for customers who didn’t have any need for 3G connectivity. If you remember that the Kindle 2.0 was selling for $ 359 at its February 2009 launch, that’s a very significant price reduction. It moves the Kindle – and e-book readers in general – much closer to the sub $ 100 impulse buying zone for personal electronic devices. It’s debatable whether or not the iPad’s release prompted this. The price reduction would have happened anyway, but there is still a lot of scope for further price cuts – and probably in the not too distant future.
Amazon and Apple may be enjoying a good deal of success, but the same cannot be said for other e-book reader manufacturers. A number of planned e-book readers have either been delayed or completely cancelled. The Plastic Logic Que reader, for example, is pretty well dead in the water. The Dutch company Irex, an apparently well established business, went bankrupt after US sales of their Irex reader failed to meet expectations. Sprint and Hearst’s planned Skiff has been cancelled.
Are we heading towards a polarised market with Amazon dominating the low cost “pure” e-book reader sector and Apple cleaning up in the more expensive tablet computer that sometimes serves as an e-book reader market? There’s a large gap in the prices of the Kindle and the iPad. Is there sufficient space between the two devices, in terms of both specification and price levels, to allow new players to enter the market?
Recently Amazon confirmed that sales of Kindle books are outstripping the sales of hard cover books. It seems highly probable that e-book sales will catch up with and eventually overtake paperback sales – and probably in the not too distant future. It seems certain that e-books are going to be an important part in the future of reading, but just what type of device will you use to read them on?
Learn more about the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.
Can Anybody Catch The Kindle Now?
January 30, 2010
The biggest book seller on the face of the planet driving the revival of books and utilising its own in-house, custom made, technology in the process? It almost sounds too good to be true – and that may well be exactly how the Amazon marketing team feel when they look back at the Amazon Kindle reader’s short, but hugely successful career to date. The Kindle is absolutely the ideal device for Amazon, with its strong public image in the fields of both books and electronics, to market.
Just as digital cameras and digital photo frames have gradually replaced the traditional equivalents, the new way of reading is going to be digital. The e-book reader is the latest hot gadget. When Oprah Winfrey advised that her Kindle was her “favorite new gadget” you can be sure that all of her viewers paid attention. Amazon’s marketing men must have been doing cartwheels.
Amazon got yet further great publicity during the launch of the Kindle 2.0 in February of 2009. Novelist Stephen King wrote a special Kindle themed novella – “Ur” – to commemorate the occasion. The world’s bestselling author, the world’s largest book seller and the world’s hottest new gadget all came together to produce one massive publicity event. It’s hardly surprising that the Kindle is selling so well is it?
There’s no shortage of competing manufacturers trying to get in on the act by releasing e-book readers of their own right now. However, Amazon and Sony are the two dominant market forces at the moment. Amazon have a 60% share of the U.S. e-book reader market, Sony are in second place with a 35% share. It’s only fair – these two companies have done more to develop the e-book reader market than most of the competition. Sony released their PRS reader in 2006 and November 2007 saw the launch of the original Kindle. Sony and Amazon are now benefiting from their earlier innovation and drive in a big way.
There’s a huge choice of Kindle books available on the Amazon website. More than 400,000 titles are on offer right now, with over 500 new books being added on a daily basis. Sony has struck a deal with Google so that they can make the search engine giant’s library of electronic books available to Sony customers. Since electronic books don’t consume paper, ink or binding materials, they tend to be somewhat cheaper than the conventional printed equivalent. The first chapter of Kindle books can be downloaded as a free sample – so you can even try before you buy.
E-books are also better for the environment – for the same reasons as listed above. Every year, the American magazine, newspaper and book sector requires 125 million trees to be felled in order to supply enough paper to feed our reading habits. Don’t forget all the chemicals, ink and energy consumed in the manufacture of our traditional reading material – or the transport required to deliver the various books and magazines to the end user.
E-book readers are, very definitely, the wave of the future. Both Amazon and Sony have established themselves in the market – but prices will fall due to the influence of increased competition from other competitors. At the end of the day, customers are going to benefit from lower environmental impact, an improved buying and delivery method and lower prices.
Learn more about the Amazon Kindle reader for yourself and have a look at the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you customise your device.
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