Amazon Kindle not coming to Germany any time soon, says report

[HarryT]

The fact that two companies could not reach an argreement that both considered sufficiently profitable does not, of course, necessarily indicate "blame" on either side. It's a pity, but sometimes such things do happen.

[olis]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The key selling-point of the Kindle, however, is the "buy books anywhere" feature. How often are people within range of a WiFi hotspot?

Yes, I can see your point. But I would rather have a kindle without "the buy anywhere " experience than not having it at all. As an alternative Amazon could fit the kindle with a GPRS/UMTS module without providing a free internet access plan.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The key selling-point of the Kindle, however, is the "buy books anywhere" feature. How often are people within range of a WiFi hotspot?

Nearly all the time? Especially now when people have netbooks with 3G modems in them. Then the netbook can act as access point to the Kindle.

I think that the bookshop and the search facilities are more important selling points.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by Elsi

Why pick on Amazon? It appears that the problem is with the telephone carriers.

Well, isn't that making an unwarranted assumption? We don't really know why terms couldn't be reached. If I had to choose between baddies, I'd choose Amazon as being the stumbling block. I would assume Amazon tried to steamroll the telecoms like it tries to steamroll publishers; I wouldn't expect it to change tactics just because the opposition is now a telecom in Germany.

However, it would be unfair to Amazon to assume it is the evil partner in this battle; similarly, without more detailed information on the negotiations, it is unfair to assume that the evildoers are the telecoms.

Note that in the U.S. Amazon cut a deal with the weakest of the national telecoms, not with the strongest or the ones who have a greater coverage area. Doesn't lead me to believe that Amazon didn't use hardball tactics with the U.S. telecoms and had to settle for Sprint.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by rhadin

Note that in the U.S. Amazon cut a deal with the weakest of the national telecoms, not with the strongest or the ones who have a greater coverage area. Doesn't lead me to believe that Amazon didn't use hardball tactics with the U.S. telecoms and had to settle for Sprint.

I've considered T-Mobile to be the weakest and Sprint to be one of the big 3 with AT&T and Verizon.

[K-Thom]

Since both T-Mobile and Vodafone (the big two over here) declined Amazon's offer, I'd say it is Amazon's turn to simply make a better offer. It's Amazon which needs the telecoms for its business model, not the other way around.

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

I've considered T-Mobile to be the weakest and Sprint to be one of the big 3 with AT&T and Verizon.

And you would be right.

National Carrier Size Rankings.
#1 Verizon ( Was #2 until it's merger with #5 Altel Wireless )
#2 AT&T
#3 SPRINT/Nextel
#4 T-Mobile
#5 Altel Wireless

http://www.mobilook.com/CarriersUSA.asp

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by K-Thom

Since both T-Mobile and Vodafone (the big two over here) declined Amazon's offer, I'd say it is Amazon's turn to simply make a better offer. It's Amazon which needs the telecoms for its business model, not the other way around.

Telecoms *always* need more customers. This would be a new revenue stream and if German users follow U.S. user patterns, there won't be heavy usage of the system because the Kindle browser is too slow. People will mainly use it for quick downloads of their Kindle books.

[EowynCarter]

Even if the Kindle shows up in France, i won't buy it. Too late amazon, you lost your chance, i already owns another reader.
And then, i don't like their attitude when it comes to ebooks. They cause enough of a mess with the "support prc drm and nothing else" attitude. Without that, bookeen would probably have released the new firmware, i'll be happily reading both prc and mobi.

[Lemurion]

From what I understand, Sprint is the one in the weakest overall financial shape; despite being bigger than T-Mobile. They have to maintain a separate infrastructure to support Nextel's iDen phones so they couldn't do any infrastructure consolidation unlike AT&T/Cingular and Verizon/Altel.

Sticking to CDMA is fine for the US, but it's not going to work that well for them in the long run. All it's doing is turning the rest of the world on to ePub which will allow for more competition as all the other devices are moving toward ePub support.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

And you would be right.

National Carrier Size Rankings.
#1 Verizon ( Was #2 until it's merger with #5 Altel Wireless )
#2 AT&T
#3 SPRINT/Nextel
#4 T-Mobile
#5 Altel Wireless

http://www.mobilook.com/CarriersUSA.asp

Of course, Verizon now owns Alltell... so they are WAY out in front.

BOb

[mgmueller]

Would have been nice, to see one (or, given Kindle DX actually 2) of my favorite devices in Germany (or elsewhere within EU).
But actually, I don't consider it a big problem.
Given the actual conversion rate €:$, even after costs for shipping, customs and VAT, it's still fun to purchase directly in the US.
Via ebay, it took 5 (!!!) days over all. I've used the very same guy for Kindle DX because of the great experience.
I only miss 2 things:
- I've never actually seen the settings. I can't even set the internal clock. So my timestamps all say "1970". Same goes for sync with iPhone.
- I'd like to purchase accessories directly from Amazon, but they don't ship outside US for those.

Concerning the carrier issue:
I guess, the problem is quite simple:
The EU as a whole certainly would be interesting, probably even a bigger market for eBooks than the US. But unfortunately (just looking on my roaming fees when travelling), Europe is highly fragmented into dozens of carriers.
So Amazon probably would need separate deals for every single country within Europe.
The easiest scenario obviously would be another Kindle, solely for Europe, without Whispernet.
BUT: This Amazon probably never will do. Without Whispernet respectively the Amazon webshop, Kindle is just a standard unit. The "on the fly" dictionary" is a unique feature, but on the other hand they have no folders....
Perfect scenario for me would be the actual Kindle, I can live without Whispernet. But I'd like to be able to access my setting, for exaample via WiFi.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

I've considered T-Mobile to be the weakest and Sprint to be one of the big 3 with AT&T and Verizon.

Daffy, my fault in a way. I don't consider T-Mobile a national carrier here in the US because there are so many places where it has no coverage. I live 70 miles north of New York City and T-Mobile coverage is so spotty that it can't really be considered. When I think of cell service, I think only of Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint. Even some of tghe business magazines, like Business Week, focus only on those 3 carriers.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by rhadin

Daffy, my fault in a way. I don't consider T-Mobile a national carrier here in the US because there are so many places where it has no coverage. I live 70 miles north of New York City and T-Mobile coverage is so spotty that it can't really be considered. When I think of cell service, I think only of Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint. Even some of tghe business magazines, like Business Week, focus only on those 3 carriers.

Gottcha! I see where you're coming from.

I think in terms of 4 only because one of my nieces is on T-Mobile (bad bad bad coverage) and I've come across their wireless hot spots from time to time. I actually forgot about some of the smaller companies like MetroCall.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by tompe

Well, if Amazon really only have one model of how it should work and that model is impossible to implement in a country I would say it is Amazons fault that let for book reading and buying irrelevant details control if they will sell book or not.

I totally agree. I think that it should be an option but not the only way, and a customer should be able to decide if he buys the device without that feature.