Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Prices of e-readers slashed ahead of new launches

14.07.10 | Catherine Neilan in The Bookseller

The price of e-readers is being slashed across the board, ahead of what is widely expected to be a wave of new generation devices.

A fortnight ago, Amazon cut the price of the Kindle from $259 to $189 (£128), while Barnes & Noble's 3G enabled Nook came down from $259 (£175) to $199 (£135).

The following week, the two dropped again to $149 apiece - although the Kindle has now returned to $189. Meanwhile here in the UK, the iRiver reader has cut £50 off its price tag, dropping to £199.

Yesterday, Sony took a step further, selling its Reader for $99, or $89.10 with the members' discount, making it the first major manufacturer to go below the $100 mark. According to Galley Cat, the offer was only for members of the discount retailer Books-A-Million site, and the Reader sold out "within hours".

It has been widely reported that new devices are expected this summer/autumn, with Amazon, Sony and Barnes & Noble all expected to launch a second generation e-reader in July or August. 

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