"Amazon: Kindle Demand Weakening? Pac Crest Cuts Views"

[geoffwood]

Originally Posted by Synamon

Reading fewer books doesn't necessarily correspond to buying fewer books. I read over a hundred books a year and spend less than someone buying 5 bestsellers a year.

You are assuming that the avid readers who were the early adopters of eReaders were purchasing tons of expensive books from Amazon and I'm not sure that's the case. Voracious readers are going to be more price sensitive and many probably put in the time to track down freebies and bargains or use the library or fill up their readers with classics or join lending groups or even scan their own books. People who read less than a book a month aren't going to bother with any of that and will just buy whatever is at the top of the bestseller list when they want a book.

Fair point, but some of the early adopters paid around $400 for their kindles versus getting free books from the library, so they aren't that price sensitive and I wonder how many people who only read one book a month are going to pay $79 for a reader?

[geoffwood]

One other random thought. If the "Special Offers" business model is working and Amazon really is recouping the $30-$40 discount, then why haven't we seen a Kindle Fire with Special Offers? Seems like a no brainer to launch a Fire with Offers at $149 and decimate the B&N offerings, assuming that is that the business model is working. Then again, perhaps it is the lack of a screensaver on the Fire that is the issue, without that constant visibility of ads I suspect the eyeball time would be greatly reduced.

[MikeCL]

Originally Posted by geoffwood

Fair point, but some of the early adopters paid around $400 for their kindles versus getting free books from the library, so they aren't that price sensitive and I wonder how many people who only read one book a month are going to pay $79 for a reader?

I spent a little more for my Kindle Keyboard 3G and my first book I got I'm still reading it it's been like 2 months now I think.. My job hours keep me from sitting down and getting a good read.. The good news is I have about 2 more chapters left.