Mobile Computing News

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Mark your calendar, folks, because this is a historic period for the viability of electronic books. Why do we say so? Oh, simply because mega online shopping service, Amazon, has announced Kindle eBook sales outnumber hardcover sales. And by some margin, too.

143 to 100

Amazon announced that, over the last quarter, for every 100 old-school paper-based book it has sold, it has sold 143 Kindle eBooks. Oh, and for those naysayers who think that’s a temporary blip, think again. In the last month, the gap has widened to 183 Kindle eBooks for every 100 paper-based books. That’s barely shy of two to one, which will be extremely significant when it does happen.

Stats explosion

For those of you who like numbers, Amazon didn’t hold back on those either. The Kindle store now has over 630,000 eBooks available for Kindle. More than 500,000 of those cost less than $10. While we’re on 500,000, five different authors have sold over half a million units on Kindle, including critical and commercial darling Stieg Larsson.

Price slash helping

The Kindle recently had its price slashed down to $189, bringing it closer to the desired price point of the paperback e-reader. Many assumed this would have a very positive effect on sales, but I doubt people would have been able to guess just how positive. Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder and CEO, says, ‘We’ve reached a tipping point with the new price of Kindle – the growth rate of Kindle device unit sales has tripled since we lowered the price from $259 to $189.’ Can you imagine how sales of the device would explode if it was cheaper still? Sub $150? Maybe even $99.99? And, honestly, this seems to be the only viable price point for e-readers.

Great for e-readers

While the Kindle news is fantastic for Amazon, it’s also great for other e-readers manufacturers. As Bezos so astutely says, this represents a tipping point for the market segment, particularly from an acceptance perspective. And while Amazon gets the major spoils for now, as other alternative open platforms inevitably emerge, all the e-readers will get in on the act, big time.

Multi-function devices still pose a threat to stand-alone e-readers, but don’t count them out just yet.