Archive notice: This article was originally published on October 8, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Amazon will offer its Kindle e-book reader worldwide from October 19. The market leader in electronic reading devices announced this overnight into today, Wednesday. Amazon customers in Germany and Austria can now order the device through the German-language Amazon site, although the transaction is handled through the US site. The international version is identical to the Kindle 2 available since the beginning of this year. What is new, however, is that books can be downloaded not only via Wi-Fi but also through a free mobile data connection.
Because purchases are handled through Amazon’s US site, European customers must expect additional costs of around 100 dollars. Research by pressetext.de found that, at 279 dollars, the international version is around 20 dollars more expensive than its US counterpart. In addition, shipping and import charges of around 80 dollars apply to destinations such as Germany or Austria. Converted at the current dollar exchange rate, customers here therefore have to pay around 240 euros. However, this still leaves the Amazon reader somewhat cheaper than the reading devices from its biggest market competitor, Sony, that are available in Europe. More than 290,000 English-language titles are available; Amazon does not currently offer German-language books.
One advantage of the international version is that there are no additional charges for the mobile data connection. While the Kindle 2 accesses the AT&T network in the USA, Amazon works with various local carriers in the rest of the world to provide mobile access to digital content. “The Kindle uses the same wireless technology for downloads as modern mobile phones. However, there are no wireless roaming charges. There is no need to find a Wi-Fi hotspot or sign a contract,” Amazon spokeswoman Christine Höger explained to pressetext.de. “The charges are included in e-book prices for the international market.”
The latest figures from Forrester underline that the e-book market is now really gaining momentum. The market analysts now expect three million devices to be sold in the USA alone in 2009. In May, Forrester had still estimated sales at two million devices. Sales are being driven by falling device prices and a constantly growing range of content. “Google alone has digitised more than one million books,” explains Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps. Alongside book publishers, newspapers such as the New York Times and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung have also discovered the medium for themselves.
While market leader Amazon will still finish 2009 with a market share of 60 percent, clearly ahead of Sony at 35 percent, more and more players are entering the market. Apple’s anticipated tablet launch could once again bring about a small revolution in the e-book market. “If Apple introduces such a ten-inch device that supports the key formats such as ePub and PDF files through the iTunes Store, the company will become a huge player in the e-book market virtually overnight,” said Rotman Epps. “In addition, Apple’s products are ideally suited to interactive, colourful content, which in turn is enormously important for magazine and newspaper publishers.”
