Juice Report

The Amazon Kindle reader seemed to be the ideal product for Amazon. It totally dominated the e-book reader market, commanding about 60% of all e-book reader sales, and it was hard to see where the competition was coming from. There were many predictions of a “Kindle killer”, but despite the release of new readers by the likes of Sony, Barnes and Noble, Plastic Logic and Bookeen, the Kindle looked set to hold on to its number one position.

However, Apple seemed intent upon spoiling the party when they released their long awaited iPad which, although an entirely different type of device, has the ability to read e-books. Most Apple devices seem to engender a love/hate reaction amongst consumers and there was no shortage of pundits and analysts ready to point out the shortcomings of Apple’s new device. However, the number of people who would buy practically any new gadget which has the apple logo on it is very definitely high enough to make a difference to the sales of Amazon’s Kindle reader.

As well as releasing new, sexy hardware, Apple also struck a deal with many of the major publishers which let them charge whatever they wanted for e-books – as long as they weren’t offered for less on any other device – the Kindle in other words. This looked set to put a bit of a spanner in the works of Amazon’s policy of providing e-books for $ 9.99 or less. It certainly seems as if the price of e-books has been creeping upwards since the launch of the iPad. It does seem a little strange that increased competition should drive prices upwards – but there you have it.

It’s a different story with the actual e-book reader hardware however. Barnes and Noble have dropped the price of their Nook reader from $ 259 to $ 199. Amazon have now dropped the price of the Kindle 2.0 from $259 to $189 – a very low number considering that it retailed at $ 359 when it was launched in February of 2009. The price of the larger format Kindle DX has also been reduced from $ 489 to $ 379, an event which coincides with the device’s first upgrade which includes a higher contrast screen and a new body color.

So the top of the range, and freshly updated, DX reader is now over $ 100 cheaper than the entry level Apple iPad – and unlike the iPad it requires no monthly internet connection fee. The iPad is, of course, considerably more than an e-book reader – and many customers will be quite happy to pay more for a more powerful device which can be used for a variety of different applications – even if it does have a considerably shorter battery life.

This downward price trend for e-book readers could be no more than a reaction to the appearance of the iPad on the scene. On the other hand, it could signal a new approach by the likes of Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Given their business structures, it would be quite possible for these companies to take advantage of a higher average e-book price by selling the hardware for less and then making more money on the actual e-book sales over the lifetime of the reader.

Learn more about the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.