What Next For The Amazon Kindle Reader?
The Amazon Kindle has established itself as the leader of the e-book reader pack. It has a 60% share of the U.S. e-book reader market – Sony’s PRS reader trails in second place with a respectable 35% share – and both the Kindle 2.0 and the Kindle DX are now on sale internationally. Practically every new e-book reader which shows even the slightest promise is instantly given the title of “Kindle Killer” only emphasises the fact that the Kindle is not just the market leader but the unofficial industry standard against which all new readers will be measured.
Considering the dominance of the Kindle, it’s easy to forget just what a recent addition it is to the e-book reader scene. The very first e-book reader – Franklin’s eBookman – was released in 1999, over a decade ago. The Sony PRS launched in 2006. It wasn’t until November 2007 that we saw the launch of the original Kindle. The updated Kindle 2.0 was released in February of 2009 and the DX followed in June of the same year.
However, Amazon’s competition has been busy. Sony has released their Daily Edition reader. Barnes and Noble launched their Nook and even the new Apple iPad is widely felt to be a threat to the Kindle. Various different e-book readers are now available and, needless to say, the newer ones incorporate features which are currently not included in the current version of the Kindle – touch screen functionality, color screen etc.
So how will Amazon respond? Up to now, with the exception of a few firmware updates, Amazon’s primary response to growing competition has been to reduce the ticket price of the Kindle 2.0 from its $ 359 launch price to $ 259. However, there are rumours that a new version of the Kindle is in the pipeline. Which begs the question – what should Amazon do to update the Kindle?
One explanation for the success of the Kindle is that it provides a superb user experience. It’s very easy to operate using only one hand, the controls are very good and the display is excellent across a wide range of different lighting conditions. It would almost be a shame if Amazon were to follow the example of the Sony Daily Edition and introduce a touch screen. If your main intention is simply to read books then this probably isn’t a massive improvement. If anything, it detracts from the ease of one handed operation. It also requires a slightly more reflective screen which will under perform in certain lighting.
The introduction of color would definitely be a good thing but, were this to be done in the manner of Barnes and Noble’s Nook reader, it would be fairly pointless. The Nook features colour navigation only – the actual reader is still monochrome. This is not, in itself, a bad thing. After all – as far as reading books goes, black text on a white background is a familiar arrangement to most readers.
What Amazon may well wish to do, and what they have done very well up to now, is to provide a superior user experience. Rather than focus on hardware gimmicks, Amazon may decide to go for options which will be genuinely useful to their customers. For example, quicker page turns with reduced screen flicker and prolonged battery life may be enhancements which end users would find beneficial. Likewise, increased choice of Kindle books, faster downloads and the ability to share e-books might be more important to users than hardware mods.
Amazon has secured the market leadership position as a result of their ability to satisfy customer needs. Unsurprisingly they understand what people who read books actually want. The end result is that the Kindle is now their best selling product and, to date, they have not just led the market but practically defined it. The next generation of the Kindle will demonstrate exactly how the market will develop in future. In all probabilitiy, it seems highly likely that Amazon will continue to take the lead in the e-book reader market, rather than following their competitors.