Strong Growth Expected For Ebook Readers During 2010
Amazon has had a great year in 2009. Most of the credit for that must go to the Kindle ebook reader family. The Kindle 2.0 and its bigger sibling, the DX, have been a massive success for Amazon. The Kindle is now Amazon’s top selling product.
At the moment, 60% of America’s e-book reader market is serviced by the Kindle. The Kindle 2.0 recently launched internationally. Even if Amazon don’t achieve the same high degree of success worldwide – although it’s difficult to see why they shouldn’t – the increased size of the market is going to help Amazon to achieve even stronger returns next year.
Some industry watchers seem to feel that much of the Kindle’s success up to now has been down to a lack of genuine competition. Whilst it may be true that there weren’t many e-book readers around to go head to head with the Kindle in the early stages, it would perhaps be nearer the mark to say that the Kindle’s success was primarily due to the fact that it was an innovative, market changing product.
Certainly, there are plenty of competing ebook readers on offer today – or planned for launch in the near future. The lengthy list of companies which either already have their own readers on the market or scheduled for imminent release is a clear sign of the level of expansion which can be predicted in the e-book reader market. Even though the ebook reader market is still in a developmental phase, it has received support from a variety of different sources – including the world of academic publishing and various political bodies. Rapid growth looks inevitable.
A further strong indicator of the anticipated level of growth in this sector is the high volume of third party goods on offer to customise, protect and accessorise ebook readers. Currently the majority of these goods are intended for Amazon’s Kindle reader. If you need a Kindle cover, Kindle reading light or a spare charger then there are any number of independent manufacturers ready and willing to meet your needs. The selection of items for new readers, such as Sony’s Daily Edition and the Nook reader from Barnes and Noble will begin to expand as their popularity grows.
In exactly the same way that 2009 was a good year for Amazon, we can expect 2010 to see ebook readers become generally more popular. Amazon’s dominance will be challenged and increased competition will naturally lead to lower prices – quite possibly to the point where ebook readers are considered to be a mainstream consumer item rather than a high technology gadget.
It’s widely believed that a ticket price of somewhere in the region of $ 150 is what’s required for this to take place. Bearing in mind the level of competition in the market, it’s not out of the question that this price point would be attainable during 2010.
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