Amazon's Kindle now 10% less

$399? Ha. Amazon just cut the price of its Kindle e-book reader to $359 and zero cents with free 2-day shipping. Now giddy up, son, there's no cake for you here.

[Thanks, Chris G.]

[Kizorblade @ May 27th 2008 7:42AM]

The cake is a lie.

[thef1re @ May 27th 2008 9:22AM]

no. The Kindle is a lie. What was the whole fiasco about not being able to meet demand, and now they are cutting down the prices? What?

Unless initial production was of 50 units, the Kindle being in great demand=lie !!!!!

[0megapart!cle @ May 27th 2008 10:04AM]

You have no idea what you are talking about. There could be any number of reasons (like Amazon wants to make the device more attractive to people wanting to do their summer reading in style) that Amazon is lowering the price that have nothing to do with a lack of demand. Move along, troll!

[Andy TGD @ May 27th 2008 11:36AM]

Ah, the inevitable and not so subtle Portal reference! ::tips his hat in gratitude::

[Snorre Milde @ May 27th 2008 7:43AM]

The Kindle is such a humdinger of a success, so they probably cut the price so they wouldn't have to stay up all night counting money.

[Bevo4138 @ May 27th 2008 10:46AM]

With that logic, the iPhone wasn't that much of a success, since they lowered the price shortly after it was released.

I'm guessing the price drop has to with the supply & demand curve.
I want one, but my price point is $100 or less...

[Tagbert @ May 27th 2008 11:54AM]

For several months after the initial release, the single factory was cranking out Kindles as fast as it could but the demand still exceeded capacity. About a month ago, a second factory came online and the Kindle has been instock since then. This has allowed Amazon to start bringing the price down to increase volume. That's what everyone has been telling Amazon to do for months, right?

The volume is limited by how many of the e-ink panels can be built. This is early in the life-cycle for e-ink products. You won't see prices drop to $100 (let alone $29) until the manufacturing process matures a little.

[Liam @ May 27th 2008 7:52AM]

I still don't care. Real books are awesom-er.

[Andrew Tanasescu @ May 27th 2008 4:56PM]

Have you ever held the kindle or even an E-book

I was always a skeptic about the whole thing also, but once i held one and actually used it, I fell in love. I actually read alot more cause of it.

[Jonathan @ May 27th 2008 8:08AM]

Thomas, what's up with the "Read" link? Goes nowhere (http://b000fi73ma/)

[michas_pi @ May 27th 2008 8:17AM]

I think he meant http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/b000fi73ma

[tekdroid @ May 27th 2008 8:13AM]

12 months from now:
$99 with 20 free books and 15% off your next purchase on Amazon.com.
(just before being phased out)

[eseiber @ May 27th 2008 8:26AM]

Yawn.... The day I pay almost 400 dollars to read a book and have to pay for the pleasure has not come. Real books for free at the library all the way for me.

[Damian @ May 27th 2008 8:29AM]

Hey great news!!!
Now I still cant afford one...

[Benny @ May 27th 2008 8:34AM]

Am I in a minority by actually preferring a real book?

[Andrew Pogue @ May 27th 2008 8:57AM]

To each there own. People love there kindle. Once they use it they fall in love.

Here for you folks who have one!

Post-Order Price Guarantee

Amazon.com's prices for released items will change from time to time based on a variety of factors. If Amazon.com's price for an already-released item decreases within 30 days after we ship the item to you, we'll be glad to refund the difference in price if you contact us within that 30-day period. Please click the Contact Us button on the right side of this page, and be sure to have your order number handy so we can assist you.

This Post-Order Price Guarantee is subject to the following restrictions:

* Applies only to products that have already been released. Products that have not yet been released but that are available for pre-order from Amazon.com are not covered by this guarantee, but do benefit from our Pre-Order Price Protection program (see section above).
* Applies only to items sold by Amazon.com, and not to items (or prices) offered by other sellers on our site.
* Item prices that are affected by a promotion such as "Buy one, get one free" are not eligible, unless the same promotion is also offered at the lower price.
* The price of an item after rebate is not considered to be the Amazon.com price.
* Requests must be made within 30 days of the item's shipment date.

[Frank Furter @ May 27th 2008 9:01AM]

@Andrew - "once they use it they fall in love."

Obviously not, or this thing would be selling. Word of mouth is the best marketing tool, and it's obvious this one ain't burning up the charts.....

[LC @ May 27th 2008 10:13AM]

"Obviously not, or this thing would be selling."

Umm Frank AFAIK those who try it and fall in love have already bought it, since you have to purchase one in order to have one in your hands. The Kindle is selling quite well with financial analysts concervatively estimating sales in Q1 between 10,000 to 30,000 units sold.

[Andy TGD @ May 27th 2008 11:40AM]

Nope, I think you're probably still in the majority. Although I get most of my daily news via the internet, I still prefer printed text to a screen any day. Especially when it comes to novels - I once tried to read Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy on a PDA - not much success. I can't stare at a screen for an real length of time, especially the length of time it would take to read a few chapters in a book.

[samirss @ May 27th 2008 4:16PM]

To Andy TGD

Thats the beauty of e-ink. The camparison between, PDA/Iphone/laptop/tablet and Kindle is moot. You "can" stare at a e-ink screen for a long time.

[Andy TGD @ May 28th 2008 6:27AM]

Samirss, good point about e-ink. I can only really speak from what I've seen for myself - Amazon doesn't even sell the Kindle in UK/Ireland. But if what you say is correct then i may well become a convert. :)

[Andrew Pogue @ May 27th 2008 9:24AM]

Actual Its selling so freaken well. The price drop is because they found a new manufacture not because its not selling. Check the reviews of the item.

[LC @ May 27th 2008 10:15AM]

Not only that, but new electronics tend to have price cuts at the 6 month mark.

[tekdroid @ May 28th 2008 6:42AM]

If it really were selling really well, there would be no need for the price cut, regardless of any price savings to Amazon on the manufacturing / supply side. Early adopter demand has clearly died down now. So this is the normal course of events.

They are a business and in business you seek profit.

Things that are selling out / selling well don't need price cuts. In fact, if they are having trouble keeping up with demand (or the thing is really flying off the shevles as we are led to believe) a price increase is what normally happens to make sure demand doesn't outstrip the supply, or at the very least, the price stays the same.

[Sporkinum @ May 27th 2008 9:26AM]

All they need to do is knock another $200 off the price and add native PDF support and I am in.

Until then no sale.

[Scott @ May 27th 2008 9:49AM]

I agree, I have so many damn pdf's it's insane.

All of my company's data-sheets are in pdf form, and I constantly have a backback with too much stuff in it. Giving the kindle a simple wordpad app and a touch screen and stylus to doodle in would make it instantly a sale for me.

Then I wouldn't need a notebook, sketchbook, novel and reference books in my pack.

[Tagbert @ May 27th 2008 11:54AM]

For that many PDFs , you would want the iRex iLiad. It has the screen resolution to handle non-reformatted PDFs and can read them directly. The downsized is that it is bigger, costs 699, and the cpu sucks more power from the battery.

[Backwards People @ May 27th 2008 10:39AM]

$199 and you've got a deal.

seriously, what an over-priced gadget.

[Sung @ May 27th 2008 10:46AM]

The only way I would ever get one is if they sell it for $29. They really just need to make a profit on the ebooks, not the hardware. I think it's a terrible model the way they currently have it set. I think there could be some convenience in a device like this, but not at $350! I doubt most people spend that much on books in a year (not art or coffee table books) to warrant an investment.

[Plothole @ May 27th 2008 2:26PM]

The problem is that because ebooks are sold individually, and also because the device can several non-DRMed formats, there's no guarantee that an owner will even by enough content from Amazon to make up for the loss.

[rrubin5 @ May 27th 2008 10:55AM]

What still amazes me about the Kindle are the number of negative reviews from people who never tried one. Many of the comments go on and on about how they love "real books'. Why do I suspect that most of these people rarely read? Meanwhile, the Kindle has a great selection of books at the cheapest prices around AND free basic internet access almost everywhere. Although I am almost old enough to remember scrolls and stone tablets I love my Kindle.

[Anthony @ May 27th 2008 11:49AM]

I don't have the Kindle. I have the eReader by Sony, but I agree w/ your comments- lots of negatives but mostly from people saying "overpriced" or "who'd buy this...". I really like mine & think it will be the norm in a few years, but I do confess to a bias against the Kindle. Compared to Sony the design is unattractive. All those buttons make the EVDO search work, but I think it makes the actual contraption look less streamlined than a traditional book & more like a laptop- which I don't want to read from.

[LC @ May 27th 2008 12:37PM]

" lots of negatives but mostly from people saying "overpriced" or "who'd buy this"

Heh. Reminds me of people some years back who said "Why would I need an expensive MP3 player, when I can use a portable cd player for a lot less money?"

To each their own I suppose, but don't knock it till you try it.

[ConstyXIV @ May 27th 2008 12:52PM]

Famous last words:
"No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame."

[Troels C @ May 27th 2008 11:05AM]

Oh for gods sake, make it awailable in Denmark.

[Adam @ May 27th 2008 12:05PM]

I have really wanted to get a Kindle, and now with the price drop it is very temping.

Could a price drop possibly mean an updated version of the Kindle on the horizon? If that's possible I would want to wait.

[Johnny Venom @ May 27th 2008 12:35PM]

Like many here have said, I wish the product was at least $200 cheaper and did provide PDF support. But something tells me, that this is a first step in getting rid of the units they have because a 2.0 version may be coming down the line. They obviously aren't going to announce anything, they still have the ones they got, but this can't be the final version of Kindle. Hopefully the next one will allow color for comic book reading (assuming once again PDF support is there or they have a super cheap comic book service...I see no reason to pay the current retail price for comics if it's in electronic format!).

[Tagbert @ May 30th 2008 10:37AM]

Sorry, but color e-ink screen are only at the prototype stage. There are none ready for production any time soon.

[Jesse @ May 27th 2008 12:47PM]

The technology the Kindle uses for its display isn't a traditional screen, but an e-ink platform which kind of works like a advanced etch-a-sketch. That's how they supposidly eliminate the "glare" factor.

I am half tempted to get one. However my concern is that I will quit using it after a couple months.

Also, my other problem is that this thing is that you have to buy more books to save. In order to "offset" the cost of the device over buying print editions, you need to buy a lot of e-books, which assuming $15 in savings per book ($10 vs. An avg. full print MSRP of $25) is approximately 24 books.

I like the concept, but am not 100% ready to pull the trigger just yet.

[Harkonian @ May 27th 2008 1:53PM]

eBooks are within a dollar or so of their print counterparts. Sometimes they are the exact same price. In other words, you will never recoup the price of the eBook reader with discounts on eBooks.

If you buy one to support the environment, more power to you. If you are hoping to save money in the long--move along, nothing to see here.

[Glass Joe @ May 27th 2008 7:39PM]

I'm not ready to get a device like this either. I think after Amazon, Sony or Apple? create a larger market for it, other companies will jump on board and create lower-cost, less-restricted counterparts. Think: Dell PCs, Asus UMPCs, Creative MP3 players, etc.

Also, it would be cool if the 2nd gen Kindle was the size of a paperback and had a full screen display with only a touchscreen keyboard. Like a paperback-sized iPhone. I own a BlackBerry and prefer its qwerty keyboard over the iphone's keyboard. But for an e-book reader where you only use the keyboard 5% of the time, a touchscreen keyboard makes sense.

[Tagbert @ May 30th 2008 10:46AM]

Harkonian,

While many books do office a significant price break for the ebook edition, price is not the only advantage. Convenience is a major advantage for the Kindle. You can take as many books as you want with you without the bulk and weight of dead trees. It is particularly useful for travellers. Also, over time, I expect to free up space around the house by not warehousing physical books.

[TheWebGuy @ May 27th 2008 1:02PM]

Well I can tell you why I love shopping at Amazon. Read this, called them up and got a no hassle refund for the difference. Not a fanboy, but a fan of good customer service. Amazon can add my money to their big sweaty pile any day.

[Plothole @ May 27th 2008 2:36PM]

Well consider that you can also save a ton of money on public domain books, since tens if not hundreds of thousands of them are freely available off of the web.

[Plothole @ May 27th 2008 3:14PM]

D'oh! This was supposed to be in reply to Jesse's post.

[Gilbert Tang @ May 27th 2008 3:24PM]

I have not read the other comments on this post, so forgive me if what I have to say has already been said by some of the more observant and/or knowledgeable readers.

Amazon, as many already know, has been very secretive about their Kindle unit sales numbers under the guise of, well, always being secretive. To me, this is nonsense, especially for a company traded on the NASDAQ which wants to draw attention to a potentially revolutionary (though not in aesthetic) device--the next iPod (which was the next Walkman), so to speak. This just doesn't jive.

Now, my degree in economics might not be worth much, but it did manage to impress upon me one concept: supply and demand. Unless I'm mistaken, if Amazon is continuously selling out of the Kindle, as Jeff Bezos so frequently reminded us in his open letters, and is working so hard to replenish stock, how is it that they could justify--again, as a profit-centric publicly-traded company--lowering the price?

The most probably reason is that supply is outweighing demand.

Of course, there are other possible reasons as well. Perhaps the cost of production decreased and they're doing the good company thing by passing on the savings to their consumers--as Amazon is wont to do with many of its wares. Perhaps they're reducing overall profit per unit in favor of a higher-volume approach. Perhaps they're responding in kind to the calls for a more reasonable price to compete with the likes of the slew of competitors, such as the sleek Sony Reader, which I admittedly own (2nd Gen). Perhaps they're cleaning out inventory in anticipation of a new model?

Who knows?

All I know is this looks bad from a more thoughtful perspective, and even though I own a competitor's device, I'm rooting hard for a more serious transition to e-books.

[Gilbert Tang @ May 27th 2008 3:25PM]

*probable

[tekdroid @ May 28th 2008 6:46AM]

Gilbert Tang @ May 27th 2008 3:24PM
Now, my degree in economics might not be worth much, but it did manage to impress upon me one concept: supply and demand. Unless I'm mistaken, if Amazon is continuously selling out of the Kindle, as Jeff Bezos so frequently reminded us in his open letters, and is working so hard to replenish stock, how is it that they could justify--again, as a profit-centric publicly-traded company--lowering the price?
----------
exactly.

[Tagbert @ May 30th 2008 10:54AM]

Kindles were on backorder until the last month or so when Amazon brought in a second factory to produce the devices. Now the supply can keep up. Amazon is using this as a opportunity to increase their volume by lowering the price.

Remember that Amazon has two ways to make money on the Kindle... the device itself and on the books that owners buy.

If they can increase the volume of Kindles in people's hands by lowering the price, they can make up the difference in increased ebook sales.

Still economics but slightly more complex than a simple supply/demand calculation.

[FireWolf @ May 27th 2008 4:46PM]

While I like the Kindle concept, I too won't buy it @$399 let alone $359. When it gets down to $150 call me.

For now, I'll enjoy my reading content in .PDF, Mobipocket eBook, Audible, .mp3, and physical tree killer media. ALL of which is significantly lower in operating costs than a Kindle.