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Will Amazon Be Giving Away Free Kindle Readers Soon?
When Amazon launched the original Kindle e-book reader back in November of 2007, there must have been a lot of discussion as to what the correct price point was. The Kindle wasn’t the first e-book reader on the market (not by a long way), but neither was the market mature enough to suggest a clear price point. They also had a variety of different pricing plans that could have worked.
They could have chosen some kind of cell phone type of payment scheme where the hardware price was subsidised by regular monthly payments over a fixed contract length. Some sort of halfway house where there was a charge to download books or access the net would also have been a possibility. Amazon chose to charge the full price for the Kindle reader and to have no monthly fee – 3G connectivity was included in the $ 359 selling price. Neither was there any fee for downloading Kindle books, it was very much an all inclusive package.
The Kindle was pretty well received – Oprah Winfrey declared it to be her “new favourite gadget” – but it didn’t exactly change the world. It was considered to be something of a work in progress – which is exactly what it was. It wasn’t until the launch of the Kindle 2.0 in February of 2009 that the e-book market really exploded. The Kindle 2.0 was also sold for $ 359 and the large display Kindle DX was released in the summer of 2009 with a price tag of $ 489.
The e-book reader market started to grow exponentially and it seemed that every electronic manufacturer had their own e-book reader in development. Companies such as Plastic Logic, Sony, Barnes and Noble, Bookeen and iRex fought to secure their share of the new and fast developing e-book market. The Kindle had a reported 60% share of the e-book reader market and was the standard to which other e-book reader manufacturers needed to aspire. It seemed that any reader which displayed the slightest potential was instantly christened the “Kindle killer” – but, in reality, the Kindle had no real credible competition.
However, the launch of Apple’s iPad changed the scene and, not for the first time, the death of the Kindle was widely predicted. However, and also not for the first time, rumours of the Kindle’s impending demise proved to be premature. The third generation Kindle was released in August of 2010 and sold like hot cakes. Shortly after the Kindle 3 launched Amazon were sold out of the new readers and prospective customers were faced with a four or five week wait before their new readers would ship.
As well as all the usual technical upgrades – faster page turns, smaller, lighter body, better contrast display, increased memory etc. – Amazon introduced a new entry level Wi-Fi only Kindle priced at just $ 139. The price of the 3G plus Wi-Fi model was set at $ 189 – a big drop compared to the $ 359 price. More importantly perhaps, the new Kindles are considerably cheaper than even the entry level iPad – and there’s no monthly connection fee to pay.
Based on the evidence to date, it looks like the Kindle and the iPad can co-exist. Whether the same can be said for other e-book readers must be highly debatable. The big advantage that Amazon enjoys over some other e-book reader manufacturers is the fact that, being a book seller, it will be able to profit from the ongoing sale of e-books. If it wished, it could choose to support the cost of the hardware from e-book sales.
The e-book market is developing very quickly. It seems clear that hardware prices have further to fall, quite possibly in the not too distant future. Is it out of the question that Amazon, and possibly Barnes and Noble, might consider giving away free e-book readers in order to guarantee sales of e-books in the future? Is it ludicrous to suggest that customers who sign up for membership of Amazon’s Prime premium delivery service or who take out the Amazon credit card might find themselves in receipt of a free, or discounted, Kindle reader in the near future? We’ll find out sooner rather than later.
Check out the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.
Why The Kindle And The IPad Can Co-Exist In The Market
In the second half of 2009, the e-book reader market was just starting to take off and competition was really heating up. Following the huge success which Amazon had achieved with its Kindle reader – first with the Kindle 2.0 in February of 2009 and then with the larger DX model in the summer of the same year – numerous electronics manufacturers were either developing, releasing or updating their own e-book readers so as to secure a share of the newly emerging market.
Sony and Barnes and Noble were bursting a gut to get their new readers launched before the 2009 festive season and Samsung, Plastic Logic, Asus and a host of others were rushing to get their readers on the market as fast as they could. The Computer Electronics Show (CES), held in Las Vegas in early 2010, had a dedicated e-book reader section for the first time ever. E-book readers were a hot developing market.
Today, just a few short months later, the scene is somewhat different. The price of e-book readers has tumbled. The latest third generation Kindle now has a Wi-Fi only entry level model available for only $ 139 – less than 40% of the $ 359 price which the Kindle 2.0 launched. Barnes and Noble have also dropped the price of the Nook reader to S 149 – and this will probably be cut again before the festive season.
Several new e-book readers which were going through the development process – including Plastic Logic’s Que – have been cancelled. The market seems to be entering a new stage in its development – and whether there is any place in it for pure electronics manufacturers or not is highly debatable. Amazon’s business model is very well suited to selling lower priced readers and making a profit on the follow up sales of Kindle books. A similar strategy would be available to Barnes and Noble of course, but it’s debatable as to whether or not they can benefit from the same types of economies of scale as Amazon.
Clearly the release of Apple’s iPad tablet computer has been an important influence in this. E-book reader prices were always going to fall – but the appearance of the iPad definitely seems to have jollied things along quite a bit faster. However, bearing in mind the fact that the new third generation Kindles sold out shortly after they were released, the iPad doesn’t look like the Kindle Killer that it was expected to be.
Even putting the debate about e-ink displays being easier to read on than back-lit screens to one side, there is – at this time – enough of a gap between the price of the Kindle and the price of the entry level iPad to ensure that the Kindle will continue to be the more attractive option for anyone who just wants to read books. The fact that the iPad has a monthly download/connection fee will not please everyone.
It does look like there is sufficient room in the market for both the Amazon Kindle and the iPad to rub along – for the short term future at least. Other e-book reader manufacturers, including Sony and Barnes and Noble, seem destined to struggle as hardware prices will continue to fall.
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
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.
An Introduction For Electronic Books & Their Main Advantages
Ebook readers like the Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook, are big business. This is because of a number of reasons which we will look at here.
Advantages of an electronic ebook over a traditional paper book are numerous. Firstly you can download thousands of books onto the single device from a choice of millions.
Ebook readers are also useful as they are small and compact. They weigh less than a paperback and are thinner than a pencil. The screen uses special technology to replicate the look of a real page by using ‘e ink’ displays. The contrast ensures the text is more clear as well.
With the pre-installed memory, about 3500 books can be stored on one device. Upgraded memory means you can store a lot more. This is all from a choice of either the millions of paid ebooks or the 1.8 million free ebooks with expired copyrights.
Nowadays there are many choices for ereaders. From the Amazon Kindle to the Sony eReader, Barnes and Noble’s Nook or the Kobo; there is a type and budget of ebook reader for everyone. They have varying features and prices so it is best to have a hands-on demo of them all to see which is best suited to you.
Have a good think about what you want your ebook reader to do. Is it just for viewing and reading books? Do you want more from it like viewing photos or watching films and playing games? If so the Apple iPad is probably a better solution. Just want to read books? Get the Kindle at a fraction of the price.
As with most things in life, it can often pay to ’shop around’ for the best prices whether online or offline. Try different websites and local stores to save the most you can, you may find the prices vary greatly. Also if you are happy with a second-hand ebook reader, why not look at classified sites or papers or even ebay to save even further?
Which Ebook Reader The Nook has a color touch screen display and is a good alternative to Kindle. Make sure your ebook reader has built in Wifi and 3G technology. Kindle and Nook are now lower in price.
Might The Success Of The Kindle Tempt Amazon To Develop More Gadgets?
Amazon is enjoying great success with its latest third generation Kindle reader right now. An upgrade – which includes a new display with 50% better contrast, a new smaller and lighter body, quicker page turns and a doubling of memory capacity from 2GB to 4GB – accompanied by a price cut and the introduction of an entry level Wi-Fi only model, has seen demand for the Kindle reader really take off.
At the moment, the third generation Kindles are sold out and potential customers face a wait of three to four weeks before any new ones start shipping. Kindle books are also outselling traditional hardback editions on a regular basis. It seems to be just a matter of time before e-book sales will higher than even paperback sales.
Amazon has also launched a dedicated UK Kindle store so that UK customers no longer need to have their Kindles shipped across the Atlantic and can pay for their Kindle purchases in their local currency. It seems reasonable to assume that similar “local” Kindle stores will be opened for other Amazon international websites such as France, Japan, Germany etc. in the relatively near future.
Currently, everything in the garden is rosy for Amazon. Suggestions that the launch of the Apple iPad would spell the death of the Kindle seem to be, for the moment at least, unfounded. The Amazon policy of releasing free “apps” which allow Kindle books to be read on a wide variety of different devices seems to be paying dividends. So, considering what a massive success they have enjoyed with their first manufactured product, it’s hardly surprising that Amazon is rumored to be considering developing prototypes for personal tech gadgets other than the Kindle in their Lab 126 research facility.
Whilst Amazon has remained silent on the subject, speculation that they may be thinking about music/movie players and possibly some kind of mobile phone is rife. However, industry watchers suggest that, if Amazon wanted to enter the market with another gadget, then they would need to ensure that they add value rather than simply releasing another piece of personal electronic tech onto the market.
A great deal of the success of the Kindle reader must be attributed to Amazon’s strong association with books and reading in general. The massive choice of Kindle books on offer – more than 630,000 and increasing every day – and the fact that these can be read on so many other devices has been a real feather in Amazon’s cap. Any new gadget that Amazon decided to launch would probably need some similar type of support in order to achieve anything approaching the level of success enjoyed by the Kindle.
Check out the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.
What Is The Influence Of Amazon On The Sale Of E-Books?
The recent growth in the popularity of e-books and e-book readers has been influenced very heavily by Amazon. The Amazon Kindle reader first hit the market in November of 2006 and subsequent updates followed with the launch of the Kindle 2.0 in February of 2009 and the release of the upgraded third generation Kindle in August 2010. The summer of 2009 also saw the launch of the large format Kindle DX, which was also updated in August 2010.
Many business analysts forecast that, regardless of Amazon’s influential role in the development of the e-book and e-book reader market, the release of Apple’s iPad would effectively kill off the Kindle. However, after the launch of the third generation Kindle – accompanied by a reduction in the retail price – Amazon has sold out of their readers again. Demand seems to be holding up, and then some, for what is now Amazon’s best selling item.
Some people have accepted e-books quite readily. Others seem to remain attached to traditional physical books. However, for the majority of people the convenience of being able to carry large quantities of reading material around with them, coupled with the ease of operation offered by e-book readers, has turned out to be an attractive proposition. Recent e-book reader price cuts, prompted or at least hastened by the launch of the iPad, have made e-book readers more attractive to many consumers.
Amazon recently advised that they are now selling more Kindle books than traditional hardback editions. As e-books use no paper or ink and have no delivery fees, they tend to sell at lower prices, which certainly helps. It can’t be too much longer until e-books begin to sell more than paperbacks.
As well as the price, the ease with which e-books can be bought is another influencing factor. Readers can download a book to their Kindle in under a minute, whatever the time of day, just as long as they can connect to the Amazon Kindle store.
A possible area of concern for some customers was the worry that they would be “tied” to one particular e-book reader. Amazon appear to have tackled this issue very efficiently by making a host of of free “apps” which allow Kindle books to be read on a variety of different devices available. Currently, Kindle books can be read on the Mac, the PC, the iPhone, the iPad, the Blackberry smart phone and any device which uses the Android operating system. It’s a clever move on Amazon’s part. Not only does it remove the fear of being tied to a particular brand of hardware but each new app acts as a separate retail outlet for Amazon’s huge selection of Kindle books. At the moment, around about 20% of all Kindle book sales are estimated to be aimed at non-Kindle hardware.
All things considered, it looks like e-books are here to stay and that they will gradually account for a higher and higher percentage of book sales. It also looks likely that Amazon will remain as one of the driving forces in the digital publishing arena for some time to come.
Find out more about the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.
Amazon Launches Its Third Generation Kindle Reader
It’s been a long time coming – or at least that’s how it feels – but Amazon has finally unveiled its new, upgraded and enhanced Kindle electronic reader. Christened the third generation Kindle by Amazon – but more likely to be known as the Kindle 3 – there are a variety of improvements.
The latest enhancements on display in the Kindle 3 seem likely to appeal to most e-book reader fans. It keeps the same 6″ e-ink technology screen, but the display’s contrast has been improved by 50%, which should make reading even better. The speed of page turns, already good for the Kindle 2.0, has been made 20% quicker.
The overall size of the reader has been shrunk by 21% and the weight is now only 8.7 ozs – a 15% reduction. Battery life is now a month – with the Wi-Fi turned off – and even with the Wi-Fi on, a life of ten days is predicted. Memory has been doubled to 4 GB, enough for approximately 3,500 books. The new Kindle is lighter, smaller, has a better display, a longer battery life and lets users to take a small personal library with them when they are out and about. What more could you want from a mobile reader?
For many, a color screen might have been one item on their wish list. However, whilst Amazon have been working on a color e-ink technology display, it simply isn’t ready for commercial release at this time. Perhaps this might be incorporated in the next Kindle 4 release. There is no SD slot available for memory expansion – a feature which some users may have hoped for. Nevertheless, considering that the memory capacity is now at 4GB, most people won’t suffer too much as a consequence of this.
In addition to the various upgrades, Amazon have adjusted the price downwards and introduced a new Wi-Fi only model for those who don’t anticipate the need for a 3G connection. Just $ 139 will get you the new entry level Wi-Fi only model, with the 3G plus Wi-Fi version on sale at $ 189. The new Kindle 3 now comes in graphite, the same as the new DX model, as well as the original white.
Amazon has also opened a dedicated UK Kindle store on their British website. UK customers will no longer need to get their Kindles shipped from the States. To begin with the UK Kindle store will have 400,000 Kindle books available. It seems reasonable to suppose that Amazon may consider opening other dedicated Kindle stores for its other “local” websites in France, Germany etc. in the future.
Sales of the Kindle 3 are high. Prospective customers face a wait of around about 4 weeks before their readers are shipped at the moment. It does begin to look as if reports of the Kindle’s demise, as a result of the launch of Apple’s iPad, were somewhat premature. The latest upgrades, the reduced prices and the fact that there is no monthly connection charge, will appeal to many potential customers. It looks as though the launch of the third generation Kindle may serve as a timely reminder of just how influential Amazon are, and will continue to be, in the world of e-books and digital publishing in general.
Learn more about the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.
Amazon Now Selling More Kindle Books Than Hardbacks
The launch of the Apple iPad may have had an impact on the sales of the Amazon Kindle e-book reader – but reports of its death seem to be somewhat premature. After a further round of price cuts – followed by the release of the third generation Kindle, demand has been so high that Amazon have – not for the first time – sold out of the 6″ display model. New supplies are on order, but it’s estimated that new Kindles won’t start being shipped to customers for at least another four weeks. The DX – also updated – is still available, for the time being at least.
The latest Kindle upgrade sees a reduction in the physical size of the unit (whilst the display size remains the same), a reduction in weight (the new readers are 15% lighter) and faster page turns. Storage capacity is also increased with enough memory to store up to 3,500 Kindle books now included. A new high contrast display and a battery life of up to one month, means that the latest Kindle is ideal for reading on the go.
The Kindle now comes in a choice of graphite or white and both Wi-Fi and 3G are included in the standard ($189) unit. A cheaper ($139) version of the reader is also available with no 3G – just Wi-Fi.
Amazon is also selling the new Kindle direct from some of its international websites. UK residents will be able to buy direct from Amazon UK rather than having their readers shipped from the USA. A dedicated Kindle book store will be set up for UK consumers. 3G connectivity in the UK will be supplied by Vodafone.
Just recently, Amazon confirmed that sales of Kindle books were outstripping hardback edition sales. Over the course of July 2010, Amazon sold 180 Kindle books for every 100 conventional hard cover editions. Amazon seems to be very confident that digital books are the future – and based upon these figures it does seem likely. The reading public does seem to have adopted e-book readers quite rapidly.
E-book reader prices have fallen dramatically in the last few months. The 3G Kindle is now available for just $ 189, well below the $ 359 launch price of February 2009. The Wi-Fi only version is currently selling for just $ 139. Whilst these price cuts may have been hastened by the iPad’s launch, the hardware price was always going to fall – and it may yet fall further.
Amazon enjoys a significant advantage over many of its competitors who are mainly hardware manufacturers due to its huge library of Kindle books. It’s hard to see this changing any time soon which could give Amazon an important edge as the market matures with a greater emphasis being placed on profits from the sale of e-books rather than profits from the sale of e-book reader hardware.
Discover the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you customise your reader.
Amazon’s Kindle Strategy – It’s All About Books
Since its launch in November 2007, the Kindle electronic book reader has been a great product for Amazon. Amazon’s strong association with both books and electronics was a marriage made in heaven and the Kindle, after an upgrade to Kindle 2.0 in February of 2009 followed by the introduction of the large display Kindle DX model in the summer of the same year, went on to become Amazon’s top selling product.
The Kindle became Amazon’s most gifted item ever over the 2009 festive season – and, on Christmas day of the same year, Kindle book downloads outnumbered orders for physical books for the first time ever. This was probably due to those people who were lucky enough to receive a Kindle as a gift trying it out – and a lot of the downloads would have been free – but it was still a landmark event for both Amazon and the Kindle.
Despite the huge success of the Kindle reader, there were times when Amazon appeared to be a somewhat reluctant manufacturer. They went to a great deal of trouble to make sure that Kindle books could be read on a wide variety of different devices by people who didn’t own Kindles. Currently there are free Kindle “Apps” for the PC, the Mac, the iPod Touch, the iPhone, the new iPad, the Blackberry and any device running Android. At times, Amazon looked to be in competition with itself.
However, the reasoning behind Amazon’s open policy became clear with the release of the Apple iPad. Among its many features, the iPad can be used to read e-books, and the price of e-book readers went into free fall as Apple enthusiasts rushed to get their hands on Apple’s new device. However, even as e-book reader prices were plummeting, the average price of the e-books for use with them was climbing.
The main reason behind this was the deal which Apple had negotiated with the big publishing houses prior to the iPad’s launch. This allowed publishers to fix the price for the e-book versions of their publications at whatever level they wished – just so long as the e-book wasn’t offered at a lower price for any other reader – the Kindle for example. Amazon’s strategy of selling all e-books for $ 9.99 or less was pretty well destroyed overnight – and it started to look as if the iPad was not only a “Kindle Killer” but was going to mess up Amazon’s plans for e-book sales into the bargain.
A more considered analysis of the situation reveals that Amazon’s release of Kindle Apps for so many different devices was nothing short of inspired. Each App is actually an outlet for Kindle books – and with a higher average e-book price, Amazon will be able to sell Kindles for less but still make money over the lifetime of the reader by selling their Kindle books at higher prices. Even if the iPad were to wipe out Kindle sales completely – an unlikely event – Kindle books will continue to sell. And if another reader or tablet computer comes along there will, no doubt, be an “app for that” as well.
Discover the Kindle reader for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.
A Look At The Unique Amazon Kindle
You may have heard about the Amazon Kindle, a device that allows you to read books that have been stored in an electronic format. Because of the way the files are stored on the device, you can carry as many as fifteen hundred books at one time.
Because they can hold so many books, they have rapidly found fans among prolific readers who want to be able to take their books with them. If you are traveling and will be on the road for a long time or you need to pack very lightly and have limited space, you may want to think about getting one. They weigh very little and are extremely thin. The Kindle has a thickness that is roughly equal to that of a pencil.
Books on the Kindle are stored in an electronic format and you can read them very easily. There are menus which allow you to choose which of the books you want to read and then navigate to the chapter, section or page you are interested in. There are also commands which allow you to bookmark a particular page so that you can return to it very quickly.
The display is also something that many people have never experienced before. If you have read books on other digital devices, you may wonder what is so different about these devices. On the Kindle, the display is not back lit and the screen itself looks very much like the page of a book would.
With the Kindle, the display looked much like the pages of an actual book. This made it easy to read and also meant that the battery life was greatly increased. This was because battery power was not being used to illuminate the reading surface. Many people were very excited about this fact. The fact that it was easy to read came from the fact that there was no glare on the surface of the reader even if it was being used in bright sunlight.
There are other advantages to the Kindle that have nothing to do with the display. One advantage that many people have enjoyed is the ability to download books wirelessly. Other ebook readers require readers to download books to a computer and then connect their e-readers via a USB cable so that the files could be transferred. With the Kindle, this can be accomplished wirelessly.
One of the nice things about the Kindle is that it allows you to back up your book purchases to an online site as well. Unlike other e-readers, you do not need a computer in order to store your ebook files. As well, it is very easy for you to make room on the device for new books since you can back them up to an online library rather than needing to store them on a computer.
If you like the idea of always having your favorite titles close at hand, you may want to take a serious look at the Amazon Kindle. These devices are becoming increasingly popular and affordable and can really provide a great alternative to conventional, paper-based books.
Frustrated with carrying tons of books that you like to read on your ride? Why not get a amazon kindle? Well, these tiny electronic books allows downloaded books to be written in it’s memory. We have what you want and tons of kindle accessories.
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