Can Amazon Hold Onto Top slot In The Face Of Fierce Competition?
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by: Andrew King
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Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 Time: 6:43 PM
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There are currently a large number of manufacturers fighting it out in the nascent, but rapidly expanding, e-book reader marketplace. The high level of competition is a good indication that rapid growth is expected in this area. And this strong competition will be good news for consumers as manufacturers fight amongst themselves to enhance specifications and reduce prices.
There is an impressive list of major players who have e-book readers in various stages of development - and in some cases, ready for imminent release. Sony, Plastic Logic, Barnes and Noble, iRex, iRex, - not forgetting Microsoft and Apple - are all queuing up to grab their fair share of the market.
There's not much doubt about the present market leader. Amazon's Kindle reader has dominated the market, and has been instrumental in its development since its release in 2007. Now in its second generation with the Kindle 2 and the large format Kindle DX, Amazon has achieved a 60% share of the U.S. e-book reader market. The Kindle is now Amazon's top selling product and, on October' this year, after a long wait, Amazon started shipping the Kindle 2 international version to more than 100 countries globally. It's a compliment to Amazon that every new e-book reader announced (and there's no lack of these, the list above is far from exhaustive) which displays any promise, is immediately named the "Kindle Killer". At the moment, the Kindle reader sets the standard which must be met, and then surpassed, in order to achieve success.
However, if it appears that the Kindle's current leadership position is unassailable, it's worth recalling that Amazon was a late entrant to the market when the Kindle was released. The Franklin eBookMan is generally considered to be the original e-book reader, and this was launched in'99 - ten years ago. The Sony PRS was also on the market before the Kindle's 2007 launch.
The phenomenal success of the Kindle was due to a number of different factors. In the first place, Amazon had a strong association with books, being one of the largest online retailers. They were also able to offer a wide selection of books to download - at the moment they have over 300,000 titles at their Kindle store. The option of wireless connectivity - with no ongoing subscription- was another big plus point.
Just as Amazon came from nowhere to secure the top position, any one of the other competitors could do exactly the same - and probably faster than you might imagine. Barnes and Noble for example, have more than one million titles available for their new Nook e-book reader. They have also elected to use the ePub format - which most of the readers in development seem to be going for. The Kindle e-book format is proprietary. Purchase a Kindle book - read it on your Kindle (or maybe on your iPhone, but certainly not on any other reader).
The Nook will also permit you to "lend" books to your friends and family for a fortnight. During this time, the borrower can read it and the lender will be unable access to it on their Nook - exactly the same as lending a "real" book. The big advantage is that, unlike a dog eared paperback, you can be sure that you will get it back.
Sony's new reader - the Sony Daily Edition - will also have a large display format and wireless connectivity - like the Kindle DX - but unlike the DX it will incorporate touch screen controls. It will also let users download e-books on loan from participating public libraries. Again - just like a conventional book.
The other readers in development generally incorporate features that may well make them more appealing than the Kindle. Amazon certainly have a fight on their hands - and it seems certain that they won't give up their number one position without a fight. Given their innovating role in the development of the market thus far, and considering the importance of the Kindle ebook reader to their business, it seems reasonable to expect them to have a few new ideas yet to be unleashed.
Considering the high level of activity amongst all of these top manufacturers, it seems reasonable to predict that the e-book reader market is about to start growing even more rapidly. In all probability, the fierce competition that about to be unleashed will create a downward pressure on prices and take e-book readers out of the high tech domain and firmly into the mainstream personal mobile tech market.
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