In terms of sales, Kindle is the king of eReaders. Despite the increase in number of competitors who want to get a slice of the burgeoning market, Kindle remains the best seller. Analysts estimate that the numbers of Kindle units already shipped is between between 2.5 million to 3 million units.
Apple’s iPad announcement, however, threatens to disrupt the playing field on which Kindle operates. While iPad may not kill the Kindle or other eReaders, many analysts do not see that Kindle’s best selling streak is not poised for the long run. Amazon, too, feels the competitive threat of the iPad. Recently, the company announced it is creating applications for the Kindle.
Analyst at Jefferies & Co. Youssef Squali believed that the iPad will affect about 1% of Amazon’s revenue in 2010, but will increase potentially next year.
“We believe that the iPad will slow Kindle’s growth momentum but we do not see its impact on Amazon’s [2010] revenues as material. There is likely a market for a dedicated e-reader but arguably at lower prices.”
The question then begs to be asked: Will Amazon lower the Kindle DX’s price?
First, let’s see how the Kindle DX weighs against the iPad.
Both the Kindle DX and the iPad have 9.7-inch diagonal screen. Kindle DX sports 16-level grayscale E-ink, which makes it a winner over the iPad’s color IPS display for a number of reasons. Advantages of EPD display include readability under the sun, lack of glare, and ultra low battery consumption.
The iPad offers a 16B storage – that’s 4 times bigger than the Kindle DX’s. The iPad can store and play music and videos; the DX can only play music and audiobooks.
Kindle DX now have EV-DO and HSPDA connectivity in over 100 countries all over the world. iPad’s wireless coverage, on the other hand, is limited to the US via GSM and HSPDA.
More important, Kindle’s data connectivity is free. To get wireless data functionality on your iPad, you have to add about $120 more when purchasing the unit. You need to pay about $30 as well each month for wireless subscription.
Per charge, the Kindle DX can last a week or longer. The iPad, on the other hand, has 10 hours of battery life to it. And while two devices share the screen size, the iPad is 0.3 pounds heavier and also about a quarter of an inch thicker.
The Kindle is built for a single purpose: reading. The iPad is built for 140,000 things: reading, playing games, watching videos, sending e-mails, watching TV, listening to music, and more.
For roughly the same price, is more better?
For the 140 thousand things iPad can d0, the $489 iPad is only $10 more expensive than the Kindle. While the Kindle DX clearly wins in many aspects over iPad including battery life and readability, it seems they’re not enough to justify the price difference.
Even Amazon is feeling the competitive pressure.
As Youssi Squali pointed out:
“Though iPad’s $499 seems comparable to Kindle DX’s $489, Kindle bundles unlimited 3G access in its price. An equivalent functionality on iPad requires users to pay an additional $120 for a 3G modem and $30/month subscription for unlimited 3G access- a price point that may not be compelling to users who want a dedicated, simple reading device.”
If you are Amazon, what will you do?
Squali sees the company cutting prices for its Kindle, and it may just be, inevitably what Amazon will do.
I’m always curious why so many people want to compare the iPad with a dedicated eReader like the Kindle. They are two different beasts with different target audiences and different design objectives. The real comparison is between the iPad and other tablet PCs.
Ok good comparison, but one thing is missing, I was planning to buy a Kindle DX just for reading PDFs (I’ve access to them through university database), I’d buy a book just for reading sometime but my purpose is reading textbooks, in PDF navigation iPad is superior and just 10 books, the downside is the screen what should I do?