Tuesday, August 17, 2010

W H Smith slashes prices as e-book war intensifies

16.08.10 | Graeme Neill in The Bookseller

WH Smith has cut prices on its top 100 fiction e-books by 66%, as retailers become increasingly competitive following Amazon's launch of its UK Kindle store.

The campaign went live on WH Smith's e-book today [Friday, 13th August]. Among the titles on sale are Stephenie Meyer's The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, which is priced £4.07, and Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, priced £2.78.

WH Smith has also slashed the price of the Sony Pocket e-book reader to £99, matching Waterstone's price move earlier this week. The Sony Touch Reader is also on sale for £189, £10 cheaper than at Waterstone's.

However, Amazon.co.uk still appears to have the cheapest e-books in the market, with each book in Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy selling for £2.68, compared to £2.72 at WH Smith. Both the Meyer and Brown titles are cheaper on Amazon.co.uk.

Prices of e-book hardware and books have been tumbling since Amazon.co.uk revealed two weeks ago that it would sell its Kindle e-book reader in the UK from 27th August. Its Kindle e-book store went live last week with the retailer promising to offer the cheapest prices on the market.

WH Smith e-book store

No comments: