In an interview with
Barrons Tech Trader Daily, Munster says he told his firm’s sales force today that AMZN shares are likely to be under pressure for a few weeks as the Street worries about the iPad eating into Kindle sales. As he notes, Amazon provides no data at all on Kindle unit sales; he estimates that Kindle sales lifetime to date are in the 2-3 million range. (By contrast, he sees calendar 2010 iPad sales of 2.7 million, and says that number may be conservative.)Munster adds that he would discourage Amazon from trying to compete more directly with the iPad, a battle he thinks they would almost certainly lose. “They should stick to what they’re good at,” he says.
Will they do it...or is it all guesswork
They're going to have to do this. i-tools are like McDonald's burgers - they're nowhere near as good as what you can get from the local eatery: overpriced, underperforming, but with some bloody fantastic marketing. Seriously, Jobs could sell the iTurd, with his marketing nouse.
ReplyDeleteKindle are going to have to re-brand - they probably pioneered ebooks to a large degree, and now the big boys are coming to play. Considering the iPad's likely price of $499 rrp here in Aus, they'll need to keep their option significantly cheaper.
I soon imagine a time where a reasonable e-reader will only be about $50 or $60, with the expensive devices offering far greater functionality.
I think you may well be right. I still think however that their next step will be a highbrid. The NotionInk Adam (when they finally release it) will apparently have both the IPAD style android pages PLUS EINK availability for reading....my bet is on KINDLE suddenly developing android abilities.
ReplyDeleteHybrid.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen HP Slate yet?
There is a very interesting comparison on both slashgear and engadget between the two that is worth looking up...the HP comes out just ahead
ReplyDeletehttp://www.news.com.au/technology/hp-slate-steps-up-tablet-war-against-ipad/story-e6frfro0-1225850741036 is worth checking.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gonky...good story...the one I was referring to earlier is at http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/05/hp-slate-to-cost-549-have-1-6ghz-atom-z530-5-hour-battery/
ReplyDeleteWell that was all very informative, but I wonder what happened to the original title "should Amazon Reduce their Kindle Prices" I think they should as all other ereaders are around the $140 to $160 range - however I agree with Gonky, they should be around the $50 to $60 range.
ReplyDelete