The Kindle reader has been a fantastic product for Amazon since it was first released in November of 2007. Amazon’s strong association with both electronics and books made the Kindle the ideal product for them and, after an upgrade to the Kindle 2.0 in February of 2009, followed by the launch of the large format DX model in the summer of the same year, it went on to become the number one selling product on the Amazon site.
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.
However, there were times when it seemed as if Amazon was a somewhat reluctant manufacturer. They went out of their way to make sure that Kindle books could be read - even without a Kindle reader. Currently, Amazon has released Kindle “Apps” for a huge number of alternative devices. These include the PC, the Mac, the iPod Touch, the iPhone, the new iPad, the Blackberry and any device which runs Android. On the face of it, Amazon seemed to be their own main competition.
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.
This was chiefly due to a deal struck between Apple and the major publishing houses. Apple agreed to let publishers set the price for their e-book editions at whatever level they liked, as long as they didn’t offer the e-book at a lower price on any other reader. Amazon’s policy of selling all e-books for $ 9.99 or less was in tatters. At first glance it looked as if the iPad was to be Amazon’s nemesis, both in terms of Kindle reader hardware and e-book sales.
However, a more detailed analysis of the situation shows that Amazon’s decision to release Kindle apps for just about every major device going was a stroke of genius on their part. Each App acts as an additional outlet for the sale of Kindle books - and given that e-book prices are rising, Amazon can afford to sell their Kindle hardware at a lower price secure in the knowledge that they will make a profit by selling Kindle books over the lifetime of the reader. If the iPad were to totally decimate the Kindle sales figures - an improbable scenario - Kindle books would continue to sell. No doubt, if another tablet computer or super duper reader launched tomorrow there would be “an App for that” within a couple of weeks. Amazon seem to know what they’re doing after all.
Learn more about the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.