Kindle 2 Combines Further Price Cut With International Launch

The price of Amazon’s Kindle 2 e-book reader has just been reduced by a further forty dollars. This is the second price cut in the eight months since the Kindle 2 was first released. The price now stands at $ 259, $ 100 less than the original launch price of $ 359.

Also available, for the first time, is an international Kindle 2. This costs an extra $ 20 and customers outside the United States can buy one. For the moment, the order must be placed on the Amazon USA website. The device will ship with a power supply suitable fitted with a US plug and – depending upon which of the 100 countries that Amazon now ship to you live in – you may need to pay import duties. However, even with the various shortcomings taken into consideration, it is still a major development which will markedly grow the size of the market accessible by Amazon.

According to Amazon head honcho, Jeff Bezos, increases in both production and sales volumes mean that Amazon is able to pass savings due to economies of scale on to its customers. The Kindle reader is selling well and there is, no doubt, something in what Bezos says.

However, the fact that many of Amazon’s competitors either have new e-book readers ready for imminent launch, or in the development pipeline, is probably also a factor. Companies like iRex, Plastic Logic, Samsung and Apple are all extremely active and are fighting to secure a share of the new – but fast growing – e-book reader market.

Not to mention Sony who, after a period in the doldrums, are currently resurgent. The company has already launched two new readers and has announced that its large format Sony Daily Edition reader will be launched in time for Christmas this year.

Although the current market leader – by some way – Amazon cannot afford to rest on its laurels. And given the significant impact of the Kindle reader family on the development of the e-book reader market to date, there is no reason to suppose that they will.

It will be interesting to see the sales figures for the 2009 Christmas gift season. It appears that there is some genuine competition for the Kindle reader at last. This should produce lower prices across the board– good news for consumers.

The market is developing very rapidly – but there is still a long way to go before it stabilises. Whether Amazon will remain as the market leader remains to be seen.