The GeekTonic home has seen it’s share of eReaders including the Kindle, Nook and iPad. But when it comes to reading books, the Kindle is our all around favorite – especially with the lower (currently $189) price on Amazon. Today, Amazons Jeff Bezos tells us that Kindle books are now outselling Hardcover books on Amazon. For every 100 hardcover book Amazon sold in the past 3 months they sold 143 Kindle books. In the past month it grew to 180 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books – a sign of further shifting towards eBooks.
Now before we let this talk get too out of hand, lets consider that they are talking about hardcovers and not all books such as paperbacks for instance. Also consider that Amazon shoppers are obviously much more likely to use an eReader (particularly the Kindle) than the average bear too. Still, it’s a very significant shift and one that should continue as eReader prices continue to drop into the easy-to-buy range – say $99 or so. If you want a conversation starter when you travel, carry that Kindle, Nook or iPad with you and expect questions from the crowd – we’ve seen multiple examples of this in our travels the past month and these are not your techie kind of people asking either.
Bezos also went on to talk about the acceleration of Kindle sales after the price drop:
“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,”
I’ve been a little surprised that we haven’t seen more eReaders hit the market this year, but I don’t think that’s a sign of the eReader declining. This Christmas should mark a time when eReaders are cheaper and on many, many wishlists – even with the Apple iPad as an option.
