But still has release problems in
EU
Amazon has lowered the price on its Kindle 2 e-book reader, just five
months after it came on the market.
Amazon trimmed $60 off the top price
of its second-generation e-book reader, so it now carries a more reasonable
price tag of $299. The cut is being seen as a crossroads for the e-book
reader market. Amazon says that the price drop reflects an increase in
manufacturing volume and a decrease in production costs. However it seems
that the outfit may have woken up to the fact that it needs to drop the
price to establish itself as a leader in the category going forward and to
remain competitive.
Competition is certain and Amazon needs to elbow its
way in as a Microsoft of the ebook world if it is going to survive. To do
that it needs as many of the gismos out there as possible. So far there
is the Sony Digital Reader PRS-700 ($350) and the Sony Digital Reader
PRS-505 ($280), as well as lesser-known alternatives like the Interead
Cool-er Books ($249) and the Astak EZ Reader ($270). Kindle has the
disadvantage that it uses a proprietary format while the others are happy
sharing PDB- and ePub-based books.
Amazon does have one advantage in that it
has a good inventory for books. However its downside is that it is an
American operation which cannot seem to get its gizmo working in Europe.