| Competition Increasing In The E-Book Reader Market |
| Written by Andrew King |
| Monday, 14 December 2009 09:48 |
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Amazon will remember 2009 as being a very good year for them. A great deal of the credit for that must go to the Kindle e-book reader. The first Kindle debuted in November of 2007 when it sold out in under six hours. No new stock was available until April of the following year.
Amazon will remember 2009 as being a very good year for them. A great deal of the credit for that must go to the Kindle e-book reader. The first Kindle debuted in November of 2007 when it sold out in under six hours. No new stock was available until April of the following year. Amazon released the Kindle 2 in February of this year, and it featured several enhancements over the original model. They then followed up very quickly with the large format Kindle DX. Amazon now had a "family" of Kindles and, helped by a fair bit of free publicity from bestselling writers like Stephen King, partnerships with universities and colleges together with a lot of discussion by political bodies, the Kindle quickly became synonymous with e-book readers. Unsurprisingly, a number of other manufacturers were casting their eyes over the developing e-book reader market and considering how best to get their share. Right now, the list of manufacturers who have their own e-book readers under development is impressive and includes such names as Microsoft, Apple, Asus, Barnes and Noble, Sony and Plastic Logic. Any e-book reader that shows potential is immediately given the title of "Kindle Killer". The various technical features of each reader are pored over and reported upon, especially when, as in the case of Sony's Daily Edition reader for example, it has a new feature (touch screen control) which the current Kindle lacks. However, whilst the technical aspects of e-book readers are certainly important, they are not the be all and end all. Some of the key factors in the Kindle's success to date were the large choice of books on Amazon's website, the freedom to download books in under a minute wirelessly - without the need for an internet connection and without monthly fees - and Amazon's highly trusted brand name. Many of the new readers will have wireless connectivity, and Barnes and Noble's Nook will offer users a choice of over 1,000,000 titles. However, the single unifying theme that seems to be developing is the emergence of a standard e-book format. Most of the new readers seem to be lining up behind the ePub format. The Kindle, on the other hand, uses a proprietary format which effectively means that Kindle books can only be read on the Kindle reader. Currently the Kindle is so dominant that it isn't much of a problem. Nevertheless, it's possible to imagine that, in the not too distant future, users may want the ability to lend books to friends and family or to port them from one type of reader to another. In a very short space of time, the Kindle has become Amazon's bestselling product - bar none. So Amazon won't surrender their market leadership role without a struggle. Maybe next year will see the launch of the Kindle 4. It will almost certainly include a number of technical improvements - but could it be that Amazon might also adopt the ePub format, or perhaps provide some type of translation service? About the Author: Find out all about the Amazon Kindle reader and see how you can save money by downloading free Kindle ebooks direct from Amazon's website. |
