Amazon Slashes Kindle Price

Here's hoping the iPad follows: In response to Barnes & Noble reducing the price of its Nook e-reader to $199, Amazon followed suit just hours later, dropping the price of its popular Kindle to $189, down from its original $259. Both readers now enter a crowded $200 e-reader market already populated by products from Borders and Sony. Though it was no doubt a direct reaction to the slashed Nook price, Amazon’s move reflects a growing sentiment in the e-reader industry that the devices must significantly drop their prices in order to gain market share and move away from competing with other tablet devices like Apple’s iPad. According to a 2009 Forrester Research report, in order for e-readers to truly gain acceptance within the mass-market, they need to be priced between $100 and $150, and e-reader manufacturers should partner with content providers to lower the overall cost of the device.