When Will Amazon Release The Kindle Worldwide?
For quite a while now there has been a good deal of speculation as to when, exactly, Amazon might launch its Kindle reader worldwide. The original Kindle debuted in November 2007 with the Kindle 2 and the larger display Kindle DX being released in February and June of 2009 respectively.
Eighteen months and 2 hardware revisions later there seems to be no sign of any imminent worldwide launch coming up. US sales of the reader are strong – demand frequently exceeds supply and the device is out of stock periodically. Kindle book sales are also good (making up 35% of total sales when there is a Kindle edition on offer alongside the conventional printed versions) and the market for Kindle accessories is increasing on a daily basis.
However, as good as current sales figures are, it seems improbable that a company like Amazon would be content with dominating the North American market whilst ignoring the profit on offer in the global arena. The fact that the Kindle’s only serious rival, (for the moment at least) the Sony PRS reader, is available worldwide and is enjoying an opportunity to build brand loyalty in countries where the Kindle is unavailable must be a matter of some concern for Amazon.
Part of the problem seems to be the type of connection to the Amazon store. In the US, Amazon offer a fee free 3G download service – by the name of “Whispernet” and provided by Sprint. It’s an attractive choice for consumers who perceive themselves to be less committed – albeit the cost of this service is reflected in the initial price of the hardware, the reader itself.
Recent discussions involving Amazon and European telecoms service providers – T-Mobile and Vodafone – came to a halt with Amazon suggesting that the service provider’s demands were “unreasonable”.
Bearing in mind that Sony have recently partnered with Google to make the search engine giant’s huge collection of public domain electronic books available free of charge to Sony PRS customers, and also bearing in mind that Apple will be releasing a tablet based notebook (ideal for reading ebooks) – it does seem reasonable to wonder how much longer Amazon can afford to wait before entering the global marketplace with its Kindle ebook reader.
Conversely, it’s probably worth remembering that the Kindle was a pretty late edition to the ebook reader marketplace – the devices have been available since 1999 in various formats. It doesn’t appear to have done Amazon any lasting to date and they may be confident that the time will be right when they say so and not before.
