iPad already outnumbers Kindle
In spite of a long, multi-year lead, heavy promotion and big price cuts, Amazon’s losing the battle on the hardware front. Still, when it comes to shaving, for example, everybody knows that the real money is selling the blades and not the razor.
eWeek, quoting a Susquehanna Financial research note, reports that in the space of just three months Apple’s “does everything” iPad has swamped Amazon’s one-trick Kindle ebook reader.
“…Apple stated it has shipped 3.27 [million] iPads since the April product launch, surpassing our estimate for an installed base of [around 3 million] Amazon Kindles to date despite supply constraints,” said Marianne Wolk, analyst, Susquehanna Financial. “However, Kindle device sales have also accelerated recently, with the growth rate of Kindle units up 3x since the June 21 price reduction from $259 to $189.”
That said, the analyst believes that Amazon’s hefty Kindle price cut, from $259 to $189, is helping to drive sales, which are believed to have tripled since the late June reduction. What isn’t stated, however, is whether that’s a tripling of pre- or post-iPad sales, an important point to consider since Amazon obviously didn’t slash the price out of the goodness of their heart.
Following the books
Whereas the Kindle gives readers access to the 630,000 books in Amazon’s library, iPad offers considerably more. For example, in addition to the titles available via iBooks (iTunes, free) ereader + bookstore app (75,000 books) and Kindle for iPad (iTunes, free), Apple’s tablet can display plain text, PDF, ePub, HTML, MobiPocket, FictionBook, eReader, Kindle, Tome Raider and Open eBook formatted ebooks, as well, by far the most of any hardware ereader platform.
Additionally, and this is pretty ironic, Kindle for iPad and iPhone offers support for audio-video enhanced ebooks, and Amazon’s hardware kindle doesn’t, let alone color.
iPad offers way more compatibility, including AV-enhanced books (i.e. the future), than Kindle. If you follow the books (and the money), although Kindle’s selling “better” following the price cut, the future isn’t assured for Amazon’s one-trick ereader.
So, if your razor maker competitors are burying you and the real money’s blades anyway, why is Amazon still in the razor business…
What’s your take?
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July 23rd, 2010
[...] post: iPad already outnumbers Kindle – TECH.BLORGE.com Posted in eBook Reader | Tags: already-outnumbers, amazon, apple, does-everything, eBook [...]
July 23rd, 2010
I also thought ipad was going to crush the kindle, until I actually tried reading a book on the thing – it’s just like trying to read on a computer screen – after a few minutes it seriously strains the eyes. I don’t doubt that the ipad will always outsell the kindle since it is aimed towards a much broader market and can do so much more, but for serious readers, I think amazon has found it’s niche.
After reading on both platforms, I agree with Jeff Bezos – they really aren’t direct competitors, so comparisons aren’t that useful.
July 26th, 2010
[...] has sold 3.27 million iPads, way more than Amazon’s [...]