Let’s be honest, many of us were wondering what the status of the Kindle DX would turn out to be after the recent price cuts on both the Kindle and the nook made it seem more than a little bit overpriced for the times.  Thankfully, Amazon(NASDAQ:AMZN) has responded and then some with an update to the device.  The new Kindle DX has greatly improved screen contrast, a more inviting graphite exterior, and most importantly a greatly lowered $379 price tag.

Now, nobody’s going to claim at this point that the DX is a game changer.  It was a great idea that turned out to be impractical for many of its intended audience.  The screen refresh is too slow for students used to flipping back and forth before they lose their train of thought, and the size was often found to be prohibitive to easy transportation in crowded areas.  That part hasn’t changed.  While it may appeal only to a slightly smaller audience than intended, however, this is a great eReader.  It’s the only one I have used that has given me perfect, or near perfect, display on every PDF I’ve thrown at it, it’s amazingly easy to read and just simulates the feel of a hardcover better than the usual 6″ screen, and it has all the usual great features you expect from an Amazon eReader.  Fortunately they ship on July 7th.  I can’t wait to get my upgrade.

It seems that in one day we not only get a drop in price for the Barnes & Noble(NYSE:BKS) nook, one of the front runners in the eReader device marketplace, but an immediate reaction and one-upping from Amazon(NASDAQ:AMZN).

As already reported, the nook has undergone a steep drop in price from $259 to $199, as well as welcoming a new member to the product family: A WiFi only model at a mere $149.  In response, Amazon has cut the price of their ever-popular Kindle from $259 to $189 in what can only be seen as a direct and hostile response to B&N’s move.

One of the main sources for concern lately among critics has been the pricing of these devices.  While always a reasonable investment for the avid reader, some have had trouble justifying the expense of the more popular and full-featured of the eReaders such as the Kindle and nook.  This is quickly becoming a non-issue. The Kobo made its splash by setting an amazing new low price for the market and mere months later we have one product with a more robust support list and feature set being offered at the same $149 price, and the most popular and well-supported eBook reading device on the market today for just $40 more.   There is simply no excuse anymore not to own one.  Amazon and B&N are in a price war and the only one winning is the reader.

While historically Amazon didn’t provide any Black Friday discounts for it’s Kindle eBook reader it may be possible that they’ll actually put out some kind of last minute deal in their Black Friday deals week section. Unusually high competition from Sony and Barnes&Noble along with imminent battle with Google might push Amazon to make one more move this holiday season on top of the ones they’ve done already:

• Releasing international version of Kindle.
• Releasing Kindle for PC application.
• Releasing a major software update that likely cost them big $$$ that enables PDF on 2nd generation Kindles.

Although I’ll be checking for Kindle deals on a regular basis, if you spot one before me – be sure to leave a comment. To make this interesting, I’ll send a $50 Amazon gift card to the first person to post a link to functioning Black Friday discount deal on Kindle device, accessory or eBook. Discount must be specific to that item. When you post a comment, make sure to enter working and correct email as I’ll use it to contact the winner.

Deals that people reported:

• $100 off Kindle device or accessories with Audible.com signup – although not Black Friday specific – still nice
• Some free romance novels – also not BF specific thogh

Only 3 days after the release of Kindle 2 International, Amazon has slashed $20.00 off the price. If you purchased it for $279.00 you will get a refund along with the following email:

Hello,

Good news! Due to strong customer demand for our newest Kindle with U.S. and international wireless, we are consolidating our family of 6″ Kindles. As part of this consolidation, we are lowering the price of the Kindle you just purchased from $279 down to $259. You don’t need to do anything to get the lower price–we are automatically issuing you a $20 refund. This refund should be processed in the next few days and will appear as a credit on your next billing statement.

We’ll also send you a follow-up e-mail to confirm the refund once it has been completed.
We hope you enjoy your new Kindle. Please send us your feedback at: Kindle-feedback@amazon.com

US version of Kindle is now available only as refurbished merchandise.

Amazon Kindle 1

Recently Amazon dropped the price on refurbished first generation Kindles. You can now get one for $149 .00 while supplies last. It looks like Amazon is trying to stay competitive in the cheaper eReader niche. Don’t let the word “refurbished” set you off. In my opinion it is a great deal. Here’s why:

• You still get 1 year warranty from Amazon just like with new Kindle. In one year from now Amazon will likely be out of 1st generation Kindles so warranty exchange will very likely become an upgrade.
• You get same scree resolution as Kindle 2, fewer shades of gray but better contrast according to many users.
• By spending additional $9.90 on 4GB SD card you will get more on-device storage than in Kindle DX.
• Not that it would matter, given that K1 just like all other Kindles has free lifetime Internet access.
• Personally I like select wheel and cursor bar of K1 better than 5-way controller of K2.

All in all just like Kindle DX isn’t better or upgraded compared to Kindle 2, Kindle 1 is more different from Kindle 2 rather than inferior or outdated. The only real drawback of K1 I can honestly admit is that page turning buttons are too soft and therefore are prone to be accidentally pressed when you pick up the device. However if you strongly feel that Kindle 2 is the way to go for you, then by adding $70.00 you can get refurbished Kindle 2 for $219.00.

eBook reader market has come a long way since originally Amazon Kindle retailed for $399.00 when it was launched two years ago. Now you can get the same device for nearly 1/3 of that price.

Buy Kindle 2 for $299.00

Here’s a piece of news most of you were waiting for! How do I know? Well, on a daily basis I check list of search keywords that you used to find my blog and “Kindle price drop” was the one I saw quite often.

Kindle 2 now sells for $299.00, $60.00 down from original price of $359.00 that endured for very long time. It’s ready to ship on the same day you order it. Kindle DX still sells for $489.00 and is still on back-order. Though wait time is now reduced to 3-5 weeks from 4-6 one week ago.

I believe that much more people would now buy Kindle 2 because psychologically there is a big difference between these prices. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kindle 2 would become backordered just as Kindle DX unless Amazon was planning this move for a long time and stocked up before they announced it.

Do I foresee more price drops for Kindle2? Not in the near future. Amazon is already selling the device very close to what is speculated to be manufacturing cost and they are not making much profit on books either because they are paying publisher commissions based on the paperback price of ~$20.00 per book.

Why are they doing this? Definitely not because they feel altruistic. Amazon is the leading player in the eBook market right now but they are still not as secure and established as Google is in Internet Search or Microsoft is in Operating Systems and Office Software. Amazon is trying for it very hard, just as there several other players that are trying hard to dethrone Amazon. That is why (in my opinion) Amazon hardly makes any profit on Kindle devices and eBooks right now – they are trying to grab the market that is currently exploding as fast as the Internet was before. I wouldn’t be surprised if Google’s announcement about their digital bookstore had much to do with this price drop.

Will there be price drops for Kindle DX? Definitely not before it will be in stock again. Which will be for at least another month if not more. If we’ll finally see Kindle Textbook Store by the start of the next college year it will cause another spike in demand and DX might go on back-order again thus eliminating chances of a price drop. On the other hand should Amazon increase their manufacturing capacities a price drop for Kindle DX when textbook store will open would be a logical move.

In case you just paid $359.00 for Kindle 2 there’s good news for you too.  If it was less than 30 days ago you can contact Kindle support and get $60.00 refund. Here’s how to do it:

6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Pacific Time, seven days a week. You can also reach us by calling one of these numbers: Inside the United States: 1-866-321-8851; Outside the United States: 1-206-266-0927.

Or go to this page and click the ‘Contact Us’ button to have them call you back.

Amazon.com has partnered up with Chase in a rare limited time offer where you can get up to $100 off the Kindle paying a total of $259 for the device – the offer ends on September 8th.

Get the Amazon Rewards Visa Card and Get $100 Off Kindle
Thanks to Chase, you get $100 off Kindle when you get the new Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card. Limited time only. Here’s how this works: 1) Apply Online. Get a response in as little as 30 seconds. If you’re approved, we will instantly add the card to your Amazon.com account and you’ll get $30 back on your credit card statement after your purchase. 2) Add a Kindle to your cart. 3) Place your order using the Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card and enter this promo code: VISACARD to get the additional $70 savings at checkout. Additional restrictions apply.

Now you might be thinking why is Chase offering to subsidise you up to $100 for a Kindle, well, they want you to start using their credit card called the Amazon.com Rewards Visa card, and over time Chase hopes to recoup the $100 through interest payments. The promotion is offered and paid for by Chase, not Amazon, so for those who have bought the Kindle in the past couple of weeks, Amazon wont refund you the $70 that Chase is subsidising the Kindle.

Once your approved for the card, which Amazon says takes less than a minute, Chase will add $30 in credit to your Amazon.com Rewards Visa card. Once the card is added to your Amazon.com account you can add the Kindle to your shopping cart and apply the “VISACARD” discount code for an additional $70 off. This code will only work if you add Kindle to you cart and go through the normal checkout process and don’t use 1-click, the discount should work even if you already have the Amazon.com Rewards Visa card, unfortunately the $30 credit is for new card customers only.

A Kindle for $259 was an offer too good for me to pass, for the last couple of weeks I’ve been thinking about getting a Kindle for my wife, once I heard about this offer my mind was made up – I was going to get it. Once I was approved for the card, sure enough I put the “VISACARD” code in and a $70 discount was applied to the Kindle. My wife’s shiny new Kindle should arrive on Monday, perfect.

Now I’m not a big user/fan of credit cards in any case, I religiously pay whatever I owe off every month, but since there isn’t a yearly fee for having the Amazon rewards card, I don’t mind applying for it, I guess it will just sit there nicely in my wallet. If you do decide to go for it, make sure you pay it off and don’t drive yourself into debt, if you don’t trust yourself you can always cut the card up as soon as you get it.

Will you be taking advantage of this offer?

Source: Amazon.com

As a Kindle owner with over 100 e-books–many of them only half read I must admit–on my Kindle, I have found that I’ve been buying a lot on impulse. If the product description excites me, then I will buy it considering the price is under $5. If its between $5 and $9.99 then I will pause for a moment to consider if I will actually read it all the way through. However once the price of an e-book passes the $9.99 mark, then I automatically don’t want to buy the book, even if I really want it. My mind is telling me that if your practically going to pay full price, you might as-well get a dead-tree book.

The thing is, it’s so easy to buy books on the Kindle, it almost feels like your not spending money, but once the price passes $9.99 it does feel like your spending money. Just like Apple got it right with 99-cents per song on iTunes, this is where Amazon got it right as-well, $9.99 is the perfect price for new releases.

If all those book I didn’t purchase because they were priced above $9.99 not been, then I would have probably have had about 125-130 titles on my Kindle by now. I’m willing to bet many other Kindle owners are walking away from purchases because of pricing, perhaps its a psychological barrier which I have become used to which means I cant buy books above $9.99. One of the reasons behind my purchasing a Kindle was the reduced price for many books, now when e-book are being priced at $2 or $3 cheaper than their printed counterparts then it hardly seem worth investing $400 for the Kindle.

I realise that Amazon probably doesn’t set for most of the e-book on Kindle, so publishers need to get the message that the $9.99 price tag means more sales and that pricing e-books higher than that is stifling their growth.

Do/Would/Should you pay more than $9.99 for a Kindle e-book?

That’s what analyst Steve Weinstein of Portland’s Pacific Crest told the San Francisco Chronicle, adding that Amazon has sold around 40,000 units so far this year and could sell between 700,000 – 800,000 by the end of 2008 hitting $2.5 billion in sales by 2012.

Considering that Apple sold 376,000 iPod units in its first year, the numbers look promising, that’s considering you believe Mr Weinstein’s numbers – we think his numbers are highly inflated and Mark Mahaney’s figures are more realistic. But that’s not the interesting part of Steve Weinstein’s analysis, he goes on to say that Kindle wont have the same impact on the industry as the iPod had on the music industry, – I think we can all agree on that – one reason being that that price of the Kindle, currently at $359, is too expensive for mass acceptance. Is $359 too expensive? what we have got to remember is that Kindle is the first generation device, and prices will inevitably drop.

Tim McCall, VP of sales at Penguin Group USA said “We see it as an incremental change” suggesting that the Kindle is a catalyst in an overall move towards an e-book distribution model for the industry. Tim McCall added “It’s certainly a device that has energized the digitization of books”.

Is the Kindle too expensive for mass acceptance? what do you think:

You may be noticed that Amazon cut the price of the Kindle to $359 today, whilst $40 isn’t the big price cut many people people were hoping for, its still better than nothing. There is good news for you early adopters out there who paid the original $399, Amazon doesn’t mind giving you back the $40 extra you paid in the form of credit into your Amazon account.

Paul Robichaux, a Kindle owner wrote on his blog:

Excellent! Amazon dropped the price on the Amazon Kindle, which I’m still using quite a bit. (David has been trying to steal it to read that free Star Wars book I downloaded, too). The price is now $359, so I e-mailed them to ask for a price credit– which they promptly issued. That $40 will buy me at least four more books, O happy day.

You too can shoot Amazon customer support an e-mail asking for a price credit, just follow the link and then press the yellow contact us button on the right hand side. Good luck!

Let us know if you got your $40 back and what you purchased with it.

UPDATE: It appears that Amazon is only giving credit to the people who bought their Kindle on the 27th April onwards under their 30 day price drop policy, I apologise for any confusion.

Source: robichaux.net

Amazon updated the Kindle product page this morning with a 10% reduction in the price of the Kindle, the price drop is a welcome one and also includes free 2-day shipping. So if you have been waiting for the price to drop before purchasing a Kindle, now is your chance to get one before stocks run out again!

The price drop was expected, as predicted by most analysts, further drops are expected in the future but that all depends on a stable supply of Kindle devices. The reason Kindle has been out of stock so frequently is because a single factory has been manufacturing the Kindles, so far supply has FAR exceeded demand, but just over a month ago Amazon brought on-line a second factory, which should create a more stable supply of Kindle devices.

Amazon is expect to drop the price around 15% a year, so by 2010 the device should be priced at around $300 in line with expectations, meaning I wouldn’t expect another price drop until around Christmas time.

Source: Amazon Kindle Store – Kindle now $359 with free 2-day shipping