New Kindle touchscreen or DX price drop ?

[djk80]

I just bought a new K3 and I am just wondering if you guys know anything new about future kindles coming out ?

I know Amazon is already planning to come out with a touchscreen version possibly sometime in the future. They bought a touchscreen company a couple months ago ::

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...e_project.html

So I am sure they are working with that technology to incorporate into their newer kindles. But does anyone have any other information or rumors of things to come ? Or even price drops ?? I don't know about you guys but the price difference between the kindle DX and the wifi k3 is enormous. I can buy literally two wifi k3's and it will still be cheaper then a Kindle DX only for a couple inches bigger on the screen? I wanted to Kindle DX pretty bad though and almost bought it anyways but I'll probably stick to a regular k3 until the dx price drops or comes out with a more noticeable difference then just a bigger screen

The original Kindle DX was introduced a year ago in the summer of 2009. The new Kindle DX Graphite just came out this summer. I would not expect another DX model until 2011. Amazon originally sold the DX for $499 and they dropped the price to $379 for the DX Graphite, so I wouldn't expect any more price cuts any time soon.

[djk80]

Originally Posted by jswinden

The original Kindle DX was introduced a year ago in the summer of 2009. The new Kindle DX Graphite just came out this summer. I would not expect another DX model until 2011. Amazon originally sold the DX for $499 and they dropped the price to $379 for the DX Graphite, so I wouldn't expect any more price cuts any time soon.

Thanks, I was even possibly thinking to something around Christmas even....maybe ? Because from 139 for the wifi version and 379 for the dx I can't see any justification literally just for a bigger screen. Drop it to 299 even

[tomsem]

As others note, the DXG just came out a couple of months ago. But the only hardware change was the screen and different color of plastic. That represents some sort of information, but doesn't indicate what is coming next. It is fun to speculate however, which I'll do here:

Theory A: iPad has in fact effectively killed existing demand for large format eink devices (a lot of this demand was driven by desire for viewing A4/Letter PDFs, which iPad arguably does much better). Rather than invest in design and launch of a new model, they used DXG launch as a teaser for the K3 launch. With minimal redesign and expense, they were able to simultaneously deflate the rumors of Kindle's imminent demise, and pave the way for the more far-reaching improvements of K3. They plan a software update to extend the life cycle of DXG indefinitely (better PDF support, new fonts etc), but plans for a full-on replacement are on hold, as forthcoming, lower cost Android/Windows/WinMobile7/iOS tablets are expected to further erode demand for large format eink devices.

Theory B: a DXG replacement is planned for early 2011. Like K3 it will be a trimmed down version of the model it replaces, include wifi, and will have features that make it attractive for e-textbooks, including voice recording, etc. It will have a touchscreen, or at least the ability to annotate with a stylus (for PDF annotation especially). Maybe a SD slot or Bluetooth for keyboard/headset etc. There will be specialized applications announced for education market as well. Price will again drop to place it below the cost of larger tablet devices.

[Talldog]

Originally Posted by djk80

I can buy literally two wifi k3's and it will still be cheaper then a Kindle DX only for a couple inches bigger on the screen?

That "couple inches" translates to a screen that's two and a half times the size of the K3. That's not nothing.

[notatoad]

i don't see the DX price dropping much, ever. if amazon were going to bring DX prices into line with the new $139/189 prices, they would have done it when they launched the DXG. they'll slowly add features (touch, mirasol, etc) to justify the price, but i very much doubt it will be coming down.

[SensualPoet]

I think it's reasonable to believe the products are set at this point for 2010. WYSIWYG for the time being. Amazon did buy a touch screen technology company less than a year ago; it might be incorporated into the 2011 colour edition. Jeff Bezos specifically said colour was not coming in 2010 at an analyst call a couple of months ago.

In the meantime, price changes are possible -- including for the DX model. But then, at the moment, there is no specific competition for a device like it so there isn't direct incentive at this time for Amazon to sell for less. But if I were a betting man ... $299 sounds like a nice price for the device beginning in November.

[catsittingstill]

Originally Posted by notatoad

i don't see the DX price dropping much, ever. if amazon were going to bring DX prices into line with the new $139/189 prices, they would have done it when they launched the DXG. they'll slowly add features (touch, mirasol, etc) to justify the price, but i very much doubt it will be coming down.

1) I love your icon!

2) If they get the pdf reading functions up to par (DXG as good as K3 plus cross-document search of pdfs) they may end up with enough of a market from people who read (mark up / search) journal articles that they don't need to drop the price of the large screen reader.

Personally I'd be tempted, even at that price. Stylus annotation would be even better, of course :-)

[Strolls]

Originally Posted by djk80

I just bought a new K3 and I am just wondering if you guys know anything new about future kindles coming out ?

I know Amazon is already planning to come out with a touchscreen version possibly sometime in the future. They bought a touchscreen company a couple months ago ::

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...e_project.html

So I am sure they are working with that technology to incorporate into their newer kindles. But does anyone have any other information or rumors of things to come ?

Who cares? You've got yours now, are you going to send it back for something that might be available in 6 or 9 or 12 months? They've just released this model - they're not going to replace it tomorrow. With all technology purchases, there will always be something better coming along in the future; you've just got to buy based on what you need - and what you're going to use - right now.

Originally Posted by djk80

Or even price drops ??

Price drops are pretty heavily rumoured for Christmas - I'm sure I've seen more than one tech blog speculate with this conclusion, although I admit I can't find any of those by googling right now. I think some industry analyst has done a breakdown of the manufacturing costs based on the wholesale pricing of chips and the e-inks screens and has assessed that there's room for a price drop.

However it's more to the point that Amazon want to be market-leader in ereader devices right now - in June B&N dropped the price of its Nook and within hours Amazon responded with a $70 price-slash, making the Kindle $10 cheaper. I believe that Amazon cut Kindle prices for Christmas last year, and so I wouldn't be surprised if they cut them again this year.

Having said that, I think the current price of $139 is fantastic. I wish they sold it that cheaply in the UK. The speculation is that the sweet-spot price-point is $99 for mass-market eReader success (i.e. at Christmas), but I don't think it's worth worrying about a $40 saving maybe in 3 months time. It's still a great bargain at the price it is now, and since you've got one you should just enjoy it. There are readers on this forum who paid $399 for their Kindle the day the first model was released and who report still not regretting it at all - the current model may be cheaper, but they've enjoyed 2 years' use out of theirs!

Originally Posted by djk80

I don't know about you guys but the price difference between the kindle DX and the wifi k3 is enormous. I can buy literally two wifi k3's and it will still be cheaper then a Kindle DX only for a couple inches bigger on the screen? I wanted to Kindle DX pretty bad though and almost bought it anyways but I'll probably stick to a regular k3 until the dx price drops or comes out with a more noticeable difference then just a bigger screen

The DX is a premium model. Amazon don't mind taking a loss on each regular Kindle they sell, because it locks buyers into the Amazon-Kindle ecosystem and they'll make the money back on book sales. Obviously we don't know how much Amazon are prepared to lose on each Kindle sale, but I'll bet there are people here on this forum who have spent $1500 on ebooks - it probably only takes one purchase a week over 2 years to spend that much.

It's a paperback Kindle that the mass-market wants, and it's the mass-market that drives competitive pricing. Amazon probably sell 10, 20 or even more regular-sized Kindle for each DX they sell, and when you sell more of something then your per-unit cost decreases. Someone else has pointed out that the DX's screen is twice the size of the regular Kindle, but that probably means the screen costs more than twice as much to produce - manufacturing flaws, based on a figure / cm² - will mean that more DX screens will be affected per batch, and a higher yield of the smaller screens.

The regular sized Kindle doesn't only have to compete against the Nook, but it has to compete against the whole concept itself of paperback books. Amazon are prepared to slash prices to achieve that. They want the Kindle to drive buyers to their online store the way the iPod has driven music sales from iTunes.

The DX is a "boardroom" device, which will appeal to executives and to academics who really need the extra size that it offers. That's a completely different market, and although Amazon does have competitors in that field, it's not going to be so cut-throat. I would see the DX more as a way of completing Amazon's product range, rather than a core product itself - I'll bet that someone buying a larger-format reader will typically already have a paperback-sized one, so the appeal of the DX is to say "Amazon offers all sizes" and that one can buy the larger size of eReader and have it synchronise with the user's library on the Kindle they already have.

Amazon want to win the "format war", and it's the regular-sized Kindle that fights that battlefront. A 10% increase in sales of the paperback-sized Kindle is probably more than the entire number of DXs they're shipping. Amazon want a Kindle device in peoples' hands, they want the brand "Kindle" to be synonymous with the whole concept of eReaders, so that people don't think or compare models before buying an eReader - they just buy a Kindle, just as they buy an Apple-brand iPod when they want a music-player. That's not what the DX is about.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by Strolls

There are readers on this forum who paid $399 for their Kindle the day the first model was released and who report still not regretting it at all - the current model may be cheaper, but they've enjoyed 2 years' use out of theirs!

Check. I paid significantly more for my original very-first-shipment Cybook Gen3 in October 2007 (roughly $450(!)) than for my new DXG, but I don't regret it for a second.

[SamuraiXSendai]

To me the DXG is worth every penny of it's premium. I've never had so much pleasure reading, including the Ipad and including physical books. YMMV.

[mdovell]

I bought my DX in january...yeah it was a pretty penny but I can't find any real faults with it. I think $379 for the DXG is worth it given everything..

"The DX is a premium model. Amazon don't mind taking a loss on each regular Kindle they sell, because it locks buyers into the Amazon-Kindle ecosystem and they'll make the money back on book sales. Obviously we don't know how much Amazon are prepared to lose on each Kindle sale, but I'll bet there are people here on this forum who have spent $1500 on ebooks - it probably only takes one purchase a week over 2 years to spend that much."

Well there's a fair amount of free books so under theory someone might not be buying books all the time...BUT just think of what Amazon did (if you read Black Swan this might be more apparent)

English is obviously one of the largest languages in the world. some now refer to at as Globish because of the global influence.

the ability to read means the ability to read books, newspapers, magazines etc.

Amazon is the largest online store on the planet

From what many have indicated is the 3G works around the planet.

If prices continue to go down to say $100 for a Kindle and maybe $200-250 for a dx what will this do?

Increase consumers... Bezos now just provided a cheap device that allows free access to Amazon.com. He didn't have to wire a single home to the internet!

Obviously shopping with a kindle is a bit odd but by allowing access to at least amazon.com it means they are more used to amazons website...if the webkit improves the functionality of the internet using a kindle then this all makes sense.

What better way to diversify your consumer base under the radar!

[bluemoonjules]

Originally Posted by Strolls

Having said that, I think the current price of $139 is fantastic. I wish they sold it that cheaply in the UK.

In fact, if you include VAT, the $139 price is roughly equivalent to £109 - for once we don't seem to be paying a huge differential!

[Strolls]

Originally Posted by bluemoonjules

In fact, if you include VAT, the $139 price is roughly equivalent to £109 - for once we don't seem to be paying a huge differential!

Yikes! I'm not used to such a shitty exchange rate. I still think of it as a bit under $2 to the £.

I'm still holding on until closer to Christmas, though.

[sendoushi]

Hey, new here.
I'm about to buy a Kindle DX. So I decided to reavive this topic.

Any rumors about Kindle DX?
It's strange that the 6'' has a version with wifi only and DX doesn't.
The Kindlex DX design is kind of outdated (comparing with the 6'').
Mirasol already done something on CES.

What do you think? Should I buy? Should I wait? Any idea?