MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Amazon drops Canadian e-reader prices

ottdmk · 04-25-2013, 11:39 AM

Got an e-mail from Amazon.ca today advertising new lower prices (not sale prices) for the basic Kindle (now at $79) and Kindle Paperwhite Wi-fi (now at $129). The price for a 3G Paperwhite remains unchanged at $199.

It seems plain to me that these price drops are meant to compete with Kobo in Canada. The Paperwhite now costs the same as a Kobo Glo. (Kindle with Offers has never been available here, so the Paperwhite was previously $10 more expensive.

It's the lower end basic Kindle that I find interesting. It's now $20 cheaper then a Kobo Touch. The two devices are very similar. They have identical internal storage and displays. Is a $20 premium for a touch screen and SD Card slot worth it? (I leave aside stuff like Amazon ecosystem lock-in.)

The basic Kindle meanwhile is still $20 more expensive then the low-end Kobo Mini, which seems to now be permanently at $59 at Chapters-Indigo. The Kindle is 6", and has a better contrast E-Ink Pearl screen. The Mini, meanwhile, has a touch screen and actually has a better DPI due to its 800x600 screen being squeezed into the 5" form factor. Both readers have the same amount of non-expandable storage.

It's interesting to me. Kobo & Kindle are the only two competitors in the Canadian market, so seeing how the competition evolves is neat.

04-25-2013, 11:39 AM	#1
ottdmk Wizard Posts: 1,196 Karma: 3765734 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Device: Kobo Libra 2, Lenovo Tab M10 FHD Plus, Lenovo Tab M8 HD	Amazon drops Canadian e-reader prices Got an e-mail from Amazon.ca today advertising new lower prices (not sale prices) for the basic Kindle (now at $79) and Kindle Paperwhite Wi-fi (now at $129). The price for a 3G Paperwhite remains unchanged at $199. It seems plain to me that these price drops are meant to compete with Kobo in Canada. The Paperwhite now costs the same as a Kobo Glo. (Kindle with Offers has never been available here, so the Paperwhite was previously $10 more expensive. It's the lower end basic Kindle that I find interesting. It's now $20 cheaper then a Kobo Touch. The two devices are very similar. They have identical internal storage and displays. Is a $20 premium for a touch screen and SD Card slot worth it? (I leave aside stuff like Amazon ecosystem lock-in.) The basic Kindle meanwhile is still $20 more expensive then the low-end Kobo Mini, which seems to now be permanently at $59 at Chapters-Indigo. The Kindle is 6", and has a better contrast E-Ink Pearl screen. The Mini, meanwhile, has a touch screen and actually has a better DPI due to its 800x600 screen being squeezed into the 5" form factor. Both readers have the same amount of non-expandable storage. It's interesting to me. Kobo & Kindle are the only two competitors in the Canadian market, so seeing how the competition evolves is neat.