Observations from the Publisher
Amazon’s decision to sell the Kindle in Target was the last puzzle piece in their marketing strategy to successfully compete against Barnes and Noble’s Nook, Sony’s ebook reader and other readers available in stores. Now the playing field for the major ebook readers has been flattened.
What will ensue on an explosive level is a battle for market share and the only strategy left is an ebook price war and lower device prices. The major publishers who thought they had won the ebook pricing war with the iPad will be whining again as the price of ebooks will fall as the major ebook distributors with devices vie for market share.
The collateral benefit of the war will be a win for consumers because the price of these devices will also drop as the price of ebooks eventually stabilizes to the market’s acceptable level.
After speculation and rumor, Target has at last confirmed that it will sell Amazon’s Kindle in its bricks and mortar stores. It will cost the same $260 as Amazon would charge you, but you at least get to try before you buy, and you don’t have to wait for the mailman to show up.
And this is likely the whole point. The e-reader market has shifted from early adopters to the mainstream, and if you want to interest people like my mother in buying a brand-new kind of device, you’ll have to put it in their hands first. Us gadget freaks may be happy to pre-order $500 devices without even seeing them, but we’re the weirdos here.
The Kindle will be available in “select” Target stores from this Sunday. In reality, this means the flagship store in Minneapolis plus another 102 stores in South Florida. Putting the Kindle in real stores will also showcase it against the iPad (although not in the same store of course – iPad is currently in Best Buy only, which also sells the Nook), which is going to prove the main rival for the Kindle.
It’s an unusual move by Amazon, though, especially as it pioneered the idea of trustworthy online shopping. It’s also proof that the online retailer is willing to take a cut in profits to push its hardware, despite the availability of Kindle software on most modern platforms.
Target Stores to Sell Kindle [Businesswire]
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Photo:Charlie Sorrel
Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/04/official-target-to-stock-kindle-from-sunday/#ixzz0m2cJ1YRy
The free application downloaded in a matter of minutes to your PC, Mac, iPad or Blackberry now puts Amazon’s 480,000 Kindle books in the hands of a much larger market segment – all the people who wanted a Kindle, but didn’t want to shell out the $259 for the Kindle or $459 for the larger Kindle DX.
Amazon is always ahead of the curve because they knew they would eventually lose market share keeping their Kindle books in its walled garden (proprietary to the Kindle only).
If we have learned anything in technology development, proprietary devices only work if you are first on the market like the Kindle, but as it is reverse engineered, better solutions evolve and you have release your technology, change or become a candidate for the Smithsonian. Amazon knew this all along and played their technology hand well. It was just a matter of time before Amazon would extend its Kindle books to every new ebook reading device on the market.
And be assured that the next major ebook reading device that emerges will have a Kindle application.
I found this video from Advertising Lab’s blog on an interactive version of Alice in Wonderland adapted for Apple’s iPad. Is this the future of illustrated children’s books? Read the blog at Advertising Lab.
Kindle Books Catching Up With Print Books?
Amazon.com Inc. announced at the end of 2009 that its Kindle e-reader had become the most gifted item in Amazon’s history. On its peak day of the holiday season (Dec. 14, 2009), Amazon customers ordered mo
re than 9.5 million items worldwide—a record-breaking 110 items per second—according to an Amazon press release.
Being primarily an ebook publisher, we also offer inclusion of your book in Apple’s new iBookstore for the iPad.
In addition, we distribute your ebook on the
Romance Writers of America® (RWA) announced the finalists for the 2010 RITA Awards®.
The 2010 RITA honors romance fiction published in 2009. Over 1,000 novels and novellas were judged in 12 categories.
Winners of the awards will be announced July 31st at the RITA and Golden Heart Awards Ceremony to be held at RWA’s 30th Annual National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.