Kindle Double Whammy: Price Cut And New International Version
October 07, 2009 6:29 PM ET
A cheaper Kindle and one with an international flair -- what could be a better combo for Amazon this holiday season? And -- if you are a retailer, at least -- it is almost time to start stocking up on wrapping paper. In an attempt to juice sales during this recession, Amazon has dropped the price of a Kindle by $40 and has introduced an international version, hoping to cement the devices in the "gotta have it" category for gift givers.
Shares of Amazon rose as high as 4 percent on Wednesday after the global online retailer made the announcement.
The Kindle e-reader is now priced at $259 for the basic version. The reduction will certainly boost interest in the device and will give the competition, particularly Sony's e-Reader, a run for the money. In addition, Amazon released a new 6-inch Kindle international version that costs $279 and works not only in the United States but also abroad. Clearly, the device will be aimed at corporate globetrotters this holiday season.
The company quoted its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in a press release:
"Kindle is the most wished for, the most gifted and the No. 1 best-selling product across the millions of items we sell on Amazon, and we're excited to be able to lower the price. We're also excited to announce a new addition to the Kindle family -- Kindle with global wireless. At home or abroad in over 100 countries, you can think of a book and download it wirelessly in less than 60 seconds."
The new Kindle packs in 2 GB of memory, which can hold roughly 1,500 books. It also features an experimental Web browser and text to speech. Amazon has partnered with AT&T to enable wireless content downloading. Although Amazon noted that purchasing content abroad won't incur data charges, downloading content will be slightly more expensive abroad.
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