Kindle and Nook start price war on e-reader market



2010 June, 22nd
Alina Popescu
Alina Popescu
feature photo

While still relatively small, the e-reader and e-book market is the grounds for a tough battle between producers, the features they release and matching price face-off. Other than having to compete amongst themselves, e-reader makers now have to also consider different gadgets that provide e-reading functionalities, along with other cool features.

Barnes and Nobles was the first to cut prices, now selling its Nook 3G + WiFi for USD 199 and releasing a WiFi only version for USD 150. Their move was matched by an immediate price slash for Amazon’s Kindle, which now sells for USD 189. The two e-readers closed in on Borders Group Inc.’s soon to be released Kobo. The e-reader said to hit the market in July will come with an USD 149 price tag.

Why the suddenly low prices? The move was not completely unexpected, as Kindle saw quite a few price cuts since it’s launch in 2007. On the other hand, a price war between makers might seem a bit much at first. But when you think of the iPad popularity and future tablet computers for which e-reading is just one of the many features, a wider price gap is needed to convince potential customers to still buy them.

Both the iPhone and the iPad were quickly adopted by numerous gadget lovers and the application war has already started. Nook and Kindle have come with e-reading and e-book buying apps, but have to compete with Apple’s preferred book-reading platform, iBooks, and many other newcomers and challengers.

Michael Norris, a senior trade analyst at Simba Information, said the Nook’s price cut shows Barnes and Noble “is admitting that when they’re up against a $500 digital photo frame on acid that does everything, they can no longer keep a straight face when selling something for $259 that only does books.” He also believes the Kindle response came a bit too soon: “I think it just makes them look really insecure and reactionary,” he said.

While those planning to buy e-readers can be happy about paying less for their gadgets, the price war might either continue, or simply need something else to keep such devices in the public’s attention. The iPad is not the only (although probably the coolest) gadget bound to become their strong competitor. Nintendo 3DS will be offering e-reader functionalities and Toshiba’s new touch screen mini netbook will provide a similar feature.

I’d say that cutting prices to match the limited features is only a fist step to be taken. E-readers need to provide something extra, even if that means just being a lot better in what the e-reading part is concerned. People seem to be keen on multitasking gadgets (check your smart phone if you don’t believe me which surely includes an email app, several browsers, GPS unit and many other services, even if you don’t use it), therefore they will need a strong reason to stick with plain old e-readers, regardless of the brand producing them.

About the Author

author photo

Alina Popescu, PR consultant & Founder of Mirror Communications, Marketing and Public Relations Agency has been working in the Marketing and PR field for over 6 years and has been running her own agency for almost two years now. She is a Romanian native, and a close friend of Pamil Visions. You can contact Alina at apopescu [at] pamil-visions [dot] net or follow her on Twitter

See All Posts by This Author

There Is 1 Response So Far. »

  1. Pingback by To Kill a Mocking Bird Turns 50, but How Far Have We Come? on 22 June 2010:

    [...] and have taken advantage of new opportunities in technology for the futuristic reader, despite the trouble such new technology is facing in the current consumer [...]