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01 April 2010

Kindle fans the flames of price war

Battles between publishers and Amazon over the right price to sell e-Books have highlighted the difficulty of pricing content online, says Peter Ollier

Kindle at a glance

What it is: A software and hardware platform that allows ebooks and other digital media, such as newspapers, to be downloaded wirelessly and read using an electronic paper display.

Available in: You can buy it anywhere. The international edition launched in October last year has wireless coverage in more than 100 countries.

Cost: The latest basic version, the Kindle 2 international, costs $259. The large-screen Kindle DX costs $489. Amazon claims that New York Times bestsellers and new releases are available for $9.99.

Business model: Amazon makes the device and sells the books, so makes profits at both ends. The Seattle company pays the wireless costs (US customers are charged $1.99 for international downloads). Battles are raging over whether Amazon or the publishers should be able to set the price at which books are sold on the device.

Launched: November 19 2007 (it sold out in five and a half hours).

Platform: In addition to the device itself, Amazon has launched iPhone applications for Macs, PCs, iPhones and Blackberries.

Owned/managed by: Amazon

Catalogue: More than 450,000 books, newspapers, magazines and blogs are available to buy. Plus, pre-1923 out-of-copyright books are available for free. Some high-profile titles, such as the Harry Potter series, are still unavailable.

Competitors: The Sony Reader launched in November 2006. It has an iTunes-style system for downloading ebooks. Other devices using electronic paper include Barnes & Noble's Nook. The iPad launches on April 3 and has been dubbed the "Kindle killer" by some market observers. It offers a full colour, more interactive reading experience that may prove more popular for reading magazines. Amazon is reportedly developing a Kindle App for the device.


"Our vision is every book ever printed in any language all available in 60 seconds," said Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos at the launch of the Kindle 2 ebook reader in February 2009. It's an impressive mission statement and just a year on the Seattle company's device has proved that there is a market for ebooks, with rival products from Sony and Apple also tempting readers.

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