Amazon Kindle Books Outselling Hard Cover Print Versions
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Whilst there can be little doubt that the release of the Apple iPad has impacted upon sales of Amazon's Kindle reader, the online retail giant doesn't seem to be suffering too badly. In the wake of further price reductions and an upgrade, the 6" version of the Kindle has sold out. New supplies will not start shipping for several weeks. The larger Kindle DX version is currently still available.
The newest Kindle version sees the physical size of the unit shrink (whilst maintaining the same display size), a 15% reduction in weight and quicker page turns. Memory is doubled and there is now enough space for 3,500 Kindle books on board. A battery life of up to one month (with the Wi-Fi off) and a new, high contrast display means that the Kindle is the perfect device for reading - at home or on the road.
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.
Starting with the UK, Amazon will be selling the Kindle direct from some of its international sites. UK customers can now order their Kindle direct from Amazon UK rather than having it shipped from the USA. A dedicated UK Kindle book store will be set up, and no doubt similar arrangements can be anticipated for France and Germany in future.
Amazon confirmed that the sales of Kindle books were higher than those of hardback editions on their US website. During July 2010, Amazon sold 180 Kindle editions for every 100 hardback books. Based upon figures like these, it does look increasingly inevitable that the future of reading will be digital. It's probably worth remembering that e-book readers are, commercially at least, a fairly recent phenomenon. The reading public seems to have become accustomed to them very quickly.
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.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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