Amazon have absolutely cleaned up with their Kindle e-book reader, it's a hugely successful product for them. The Kindle currently accounts for 60% of all e-book reader sales in the USA and, with the Kindle 2.0 and the larger DX now on sale in over one hundred countries worldwide, the potential customer base for Amazon is enormous.
Right now, Sony are Amazon's main (quite possibly only) competition. They are a long way back in second place, but with a very respectable 35% market share. Nevertheless, there are many other manufacturers who have witnessed the very rapid emergence of the e-book reader market and who now want their share of the profits to be had. For the first time ever, this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas featured a dedicated zone for e-book readers. More than two dozen different manufacturers - some very well known names, others less recognisable - were displaying e-book readers. It's a strong sign that businesses are anticipating rapid growth in this arena.
Nevertheless, what many of these aspirational companies may be neglecting is the fact that, whilst the technical features of the hardware are an important factor, they do not make up the whole picture. Amazon's success with the Kindle to date has been the result of a number of different elements over and above the undoubted technical merits of the Kindle hardware. Amazon currently occupies a practically unique position which affords it a number of distinct advantages related to selling both e-books and the readers to view them on.
After all, Amazon is the world's largest book retailer - without exception. In the opinion of potential customers it therefore has a proven pedigree when it comes to books. It also has a very strong link with consumer electronics, as a merchant - but the association exists. In other words, Amazon is a trusted supplier of both books and electronic gadgets.
The fact of the matter is that any manufacturer who imagines that they will be able to displace Amazon from the number one slot, or even to make serious volumes of sales, simply by producing a reader which has a slightly better technical specification is probably going to be somewhat disappointed when the sales figures start coming in. It will probably require another household name, who also has earned a good deal of consumer trust over a period of years, to make any significant inroads into Amazon's sales. Microsoft or Apple could be contenders, and both of these companies have readers - or devices which could serve as readers - under development. Sony's already established association with e-book readers, combined with their current market share, means that they must be viewed as a serious contender in future. Barnes and Nobles book selling credentials could also stand them in good stead.
It certainly doesn't look as if some small electronics manufacturer is going to make serious inroads in the market any time soon. Partnerships, such as Barnes and Noble's agreement to provide e-books for Plastic Logic's Que reader (due out in April 2010) could produce some surprises. However, it's hard to see what will now stop the Kindle reader from actually becoming the iPod of books, as has been predicted for some time now.
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