The Amazon Kindle 3 Is Selling More Quickly Than Ever

Amazon recently confirmed that, in the 4 weeks following the launch of their third generation Kindle, more Kindle readers were sold than for the same time period following any earlier Kindle reader launch. The new, improved Kindle is not just in high demand – it is the fastest selling Kindle reader ever. Amazon didn’t reveal precisely how many Kindles were sold, but they did confirm that, since the release of the upgraded Kindle, customers have purchased more Kindles on Amazon.com and the newly opened Kindle store at Amazon.co.uk combined than any other item.

The new Kindle 3 was announced by Amazon at the end of July. The new Kindle 3 houses the same size of 6″ display in a smaller (21%) and lighter (15%) casing. Page turns are 20% faster and onboard memory has been doubled from 2GB to 4GB – enough for 3,500 books. Battery life with Wi-Fi turned off is now up to 4 weeks and the e-ink technology display has better contrast than ever.

Amazon also introduced an entry level Wi-Fi only model, for customers who don’t anticipate the need for 3G. This sells for $ 139, with the 3G plus Wi-Fi model selling for $ 189. Those prices represent massive reductions on the previous $ 359 Kindle price. It’s a clear sign that the e-book reader market is entering a new phase.

During the first half of 2010, Amazon sold three times as many Kindle books as they did during the first six months of 2009. The number of books available on the Kindle store has now grown to over 670,000 titles – and that doesn’t include the 1.8 million free classic books on offer.

The Kindle remains Amazon’s number one selling product. It is also the most gifted and most wished for product on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. With the high sales returns for the Kindle and the latest technical improvements, it would be easy to overlook the importance of the opening of the UK Kindle store at Amazon.co.uk. The UK store has opened with 400,000 titles available and could increase international Kindle sales. If it proves to be successful – and why wouldn’t it be – it seems probable that further “local” Kindle stores in France, Germany, Japan etc. – and any other country with its own independent Amazon website – might be opened.

Whilst Amazon still faces competition from the Apple iPad this doesn’t seem to concern them too much. For the moment at least, the price differential between the Kindle and the iPad is large enough to make the Kindle the natural choice for most customers who are primarily interested in reading books. As the e-book market matures, much more emphasis will be given to the sale of e-books as opposed to e-book readers. The fact that Kindle books are outselling iBooks by a ratio of sixty to one speaks volumes.

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.

Kindle Accessories In Demand As Kindle Sales Take Off

Although Amazon are being unashamedly coy with regard to sales figures, there can be little doubt that they are happy with the performance of their Kindle ebook reader family to date. The Kindle first went on sale in November 2007 and demand was so great that it sold out in five and a half hours. It remained out of stock until April 2008.

The Kindle 2, widely viewed as an improvement to an already excellent product, was released in February 2009 and was another big hit with the buying public. In May of 2009 Amazon confirmed that its new, bigeer Kindle DX model would be released and began accepting pre-orders.

All in all, by the middle of 2009 the Kindle was the must have gadget and was often referred to as the “iPod of books”. In parallel with hardware development, Amazon continued to make greater numbers of book titles available in its Kindle store. By early June of 2009 there were over 300,000 Kindle titles available and the collection was growing by, on average, 500 titles per day.

Great business for Amazon and a huge encouragement for repeat custom. Sure, you can get books for your kindle elsewhere – but these might require translation, and why bother when the Kindle store has so many titles that you can download using 3G wireless connectivity in less than sixty seconds?

It’s also good news for all those third party manufacturers of Kindle accessories – a rapidly growing market. Originally Amazon shipped a cover with the Kindle, but this practice stopped when the Kindle 2 was released. Customers who have just spent $359 for their Kindle 2 or $489 for their DX probably have a reasonable discretionary spend budget and won’t think anything about spending another $20 – $40 on a cover to protect and customise their new toy. As with any portable device, it’s likely to have a few bumps and scrapes in normal use – so it makes sense to protect it as best you can?

Aside from the practical considerations, it seems that some Kindle owners are quite prepared to pay over $100 for a nice leather cover – which will not only provide some degree of protection but will also make their high tech Kindle look more like a traditional book. As the Kindle is a fairly high ticket item most owners, will have some disposable income so it probably isn’t a huge surprise that they’re ready to pay for a few extras to customise it.

Kindle owners can also choose from a wide variety of other accessories – clip on lights, metal reading stands and additional power chargers are currently popular. As the popularity of the Kindle continues to grow, and as further new models are introduced, it seems likely that more and more independent suppliers will benefit from Amazon’s innovation.