Effective today onwards, Kindle, with a $40 reduction, will now be priced at $259, a massive price drop over the year.
This is the second price cut in three months. At the time of its launch in 2007, Kindle was priced at $399. It opened this year at $359, before another price reduction in July.
Kindle to tap overseas market
Further, Amazon has also announced that it will soon start selling a new version of the Kindle, priced at $279, that can wirelessly download books in the nation as well as in more than 100 countries.
The new kindle will be physically identical to its predecessor, with its slim profile, six-inch black-and-gray screen and angular keyboard. The only difference will be the wireless network.
Currently, the Kindle users in United States wirelessly download content through Sprint Nextel Corp.'s network. With the kindle going global, users will be able to download content through AT&T's network around the world.
"We have millions of customers in countries all over the world who read English-language books,” Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement. "Kindle enables these customers to think of a book and download it wirelessly in less than 60 seconds.”
The new version is scheduled to begin shipping on Oct. 19.
Growing e-reader market
Both price cut and global expansion are aimed at tapping the nascent e-reader market.
According to a report released recently by market research company Forrester Research, e-reader sales will amount to approximately 3 million this fiscal year. Of the total, Amazon is expected to sell 60 percent of them and Sony Corp. around 35 percent.
New players are also entering the market. IREX Technologies is planning to launch e-reader this fall and Plastic Logic Ltd. is also hoping to sell e-readers soon.
Mixed reactions from end users
There is quite a buzz on online forums, where users are discussing Kindle. There are a few who are excited over the price cut and global expansion, some are really not convinced, and others are unhappy.
A reader named Ryan Lewis posted his view on marshable.com, saying, “Great move Amazon. lots of haters out there, but the fact is Amazon is a great company ran by smart people with a awesome product.”
Another reader named bookwarner stated his comment on the same site, “great to see people realising there is more to life than America.”
Some readers expressed unhappiness over limited expansion of the new version. A reader named sh4k on engadget.com commented, “Got exicted for a minute until I found out it is not being shipped to Canada.”
Another reader named Steve commented on the same site, “I just went to the area on Amazon where you can select your country from a dropdown list to check availability. No Canada. Just remember though, it’s not Amazon’s fault. It has to do with distribution rights. I’m sure Amazon would love to sell to everyone.”
Users have also voice discontentment over the price cut being announced after they have already made purchases. A user named Ontheotherhand on marshable.com said, “Darn. And I just got a new Kindle a couple of weeks ago...at the old, higher price, of course.”
And then there are those unhappy Kindle users who travel internationally; unhappy because their current e- readers cannot be connected to AT&T network. But there is good news for some. Users who have brought their kindle over the last thirty days can exchange them for the international version.
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