Amazon.com introduced a refreshed Kindle DX and reduced the price from $489 to $379 Thursday. Despite the price cut, Amazon said it is maintaining a free 3G e-book delivery system for the Kindle DX, which can download a book wirelessly in less than 60 seconds.
The refreshed Kindle DX, which is slated to begin shipping on July 7, sports a new graphite enclosure and an improved high-contrast electronic ink display, noted Amazon Kindle Senior Vice President Steve Kessel. “With 50 percent better contrast and darker fonts, you’ll find it easier than ever to read wherever you happen to be — whether it’s outside in bright sunlight or under the low light of your living room,” Kessel said.
Lowering the Price
Amazon also recently reduced the price of the standard Amazon Kindle from $259 to $189 to keep pace with the $149 nook now offered by rival Barnes & Noble. Even with the latest price drops, however, dedicated devices featuring E Ink screens may still be too expensive to attract the interest of the majority of U.S. consumers.
Based on the results of an online survey last year, Forrester Research found that most consumers based in the United States valued dedicated e-reading devices at “shockingly low” price points ranging between $50 and $99, though 14 percent said they would consider buying such a device if it was priced at $199 or even higher.
Still, Forrester currently forecasts that U.S. consumers will buy 6.6 million dedicated e-readers this year. “By 2015, 29 million U.S. consumers will own an e-reader, but consumers will also read e-books on other devices like laptops, mobile phones, and tablet PCs,” Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said.
What’s driving the current round of price cuts is the fact that e-book sales are now profitable. “So Amazon and Barnes &… Read more
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