Today several reports appeared pertaining to the e-book market and the apparent “price wars.” First up, Barnes and Noble have offered up a new Wi-Fi only version of its somewhat popular Nook e-book reader. This new version sells for a mere $149. However, the price drop for this new version comes somewhat at a cost as it doesn’t include any type of 3G capability. As more and more users now have access to Wi-Fi connections, this shouldn’t be too big of a deal-breaker.
Barnes and Noble haven’t forgotten about their 3G device either though. They’ve also chosen cut the price of their Nook 3G device from $259 to $199.
But that’s not all. Amazon has also just announced they are slashing their prices for the Kindle 3G device as well. Amazon now charges $189 for their Kindle 3G device, which beats out the Nook by $10. How great is that?
This price cut seems appropriate given the amount of success that the iPad has been showing. But really, I think it’s something that was going to happen anyways as more and more of these e-readers come to the market. Ultimately, it seems like these devices will eventually come to a break-even or even to a point where the companies begin selling them at a loss, hoping that customers will purchase enough e-books to make up for the lost profit. (This, in retrospect, is quite similar to the PlayStation 3, offering a console that product a negative profit margin in order to hopefully regain it back through the sale of console games.)
I haven’t used either of these devices for any extended period of time, so I can’t recommend either one from personal use. However, going by what the media says about the two devices, it appears that the Kindle device is the sure bet to purchase. And, to make matters even better, the Kindle 3G is now cheaper than the B&N Nook 3G device.
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