US e-retailer Amazon.com has slashed the international price of its Kindle 2 e-book reader as competition hots up.
The price has been cut from US$279 at its international launch last October, to $189 (about R1 400) now. With shipping and other costs, the new price works out to about R1 800 for SA shoppers. The larger-format Kindle DX remains $489.
The Kindle 2 price cut comes just months after Apple unveiled the iPad, which, like the Kindle, also features an online bookstore.
Amazon is facing increasing competition in the e-reader market, not only from Apple, but also from US retailer Barnes & Noble and its recently unveiled Nook device.
An announcement from Barnes & Nobile that it was cutting the price of the Nook to $199 (from $259) may have been the main reason for Amazon’s decision to slash the price of the Kindle.
E-book readers like the Kindle and the Nook are selling like hotcakes as consumers migrate away from paper-based books to devices with electronic ink-based screens that mimic paper.
Amazon is expected to announce a successor to the Kindle 2, possibly in 2010, as competition intensifies. — Staff reporter, TechCentral
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