The Kindle Drives Great Results For Amazon
When the Amazon management team get together to look over the company’s performance in 2009, they will have some reason to feel content – but not smug. It’s been a great year for the internet retail giant – and much of the credit must go to the Amazon Kindle reader.
Amazon released the Kindle 2 in February of 2009. It was generally regarded as a big step in the right direction. Amazon had clearly listened closely to customer feedback regarding the original Kindle, which debuted in 2007. Wireless connectivity and the enormous selection of Kindle books remained and faster page changes, longer battery life and increased storage capacity were among the enhancements which were introduced.
Best selling author, Stephen King wrote a special novella to mark the launch and the Kindle 2 rapidly became the “must have” gadget among a blaze of publicity.
In June of 2009, just a few months later, Amazon released the Kindle DX. This had a large display and was intended to cater for readers of magazines, newspapers and academic textbooks. Somewhat surprisingly perhaps, it was the staid world of academic publishing that helped to gain the DX a lot of publicity.
The academic community was quick to realise the potential opportunities which the Kindle offered. Not only would it be very much easier to keep textbooks updated but interactive education – pop quizzes and tests for example – would be possible. Academic bodies would not only save money as a result of using paperless books, but they would be more environmentally friendly also – an important factor for such establishments who have both budgets and environmental targets to meet these days.
As well as agreeing partnerships with a number of universities and colleges, Amazon benefited from a lot of publicity generated by political bodies such as the New Democratic Leadership Council and Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger – both of whom held forth on the educational benefits of e-book readers in general and the Amazon Kindle in particular.
However, as bright as things were looking for Amazon, there were indications that trouble was looming. Other manufacturers, having seen Amazon develop the e-book reader market, were now becoming aware of the massive potential of this fledgling sector. An impressive list of competitors, including the likes of Apple, Microsoft, Barnes and Noble and Sony, wanted their share – and they all had their own readers in development.
It’s a compliment to Amazon – albeit a backhanded one that practically every ebook reader in development which shows the slightest potential is immediately given the title of the “Kindle Killer”. The trouble is that, at the moment, and despite all the development work by the competition, Amazon is still the only show in town. Sony’s Daily Edition reader and the Nook from Barnes and Noble have both had their launch dates postponed. In fact, it looks increasingly likely that the most probable source of the long awaited Kindle Killer would be Amazon itself. The Kindle 4 is the most likely challenger. Might we hope to see it in the next twelve months?
