Amazons upcoming tablet and their unique quantities of free ebooks

[RockdaMan]

Are you familiar with eReaderIQ, the free Kindle ebook site? They have a RSS feed, daily email, and a website dedicated to showing you all the latest free ebooks for the Kindle. They find around 130 new free ebooks each week.

Think about that for a second. Only 1 of the 3 largest ebookstores in the US have vast quantities of free ebooks. Surely that’s not an accident. The only way that I can see such a difference occurring is if someone worked to create the situation deliberately. I truly believe that Amazon have more free ebooks because that is part of their business plan.

folks, that daily free app is most definitely not an accident.

I don’t know if Amazon have a tablet at all, but I am quite certain that they will not sell it as a loss leader. The idea just does not fit with the external appearance of their current business plan.

If it's not priced to move, the Amazon tablet had better bring some revolutionary, compelling and heretofore unseen 'got to have it' features to the tablet space.

I can already use their music, ebooks and apps on my Android tablet, and others can do the same on their iPads.

I'm waiting with interest to see what happens with this one.

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...a-loss-leader/

[Nate the great]

Hey,

i have no problem with you quoting my post but i think people will want to have a link just in case they want to read the rest of the post.
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...a-loss-leader/

Everyone, the above post was inspired by someone saying that the AmazonTab would be sold below cost as a loss leader (so Amazon could sell digital content). My point as that the digital content itself was the loss leader.

[HarryT]

What are the comparative figures for the number of free ebooks at Amazon, B&N, and - what's the third store you're comparing? Kobo? Sony?

[RockdaMan]

The point is that those other stores don't service their customer base the way that Amazon does with the freebies.

[poohbear_nc]

If it's not priced to move, the Amazon tablet had better bring some revolutionary, compelling and heretofore unseen 'got to have it' features to the tablet space.

One obvious way for Amazon to sell their tablets - at whatever price - would be to follow the same "no computer needed" philosophy of the existing Kindles. For non-tech folks who just want to read - and read a lot - without having to know anything about computers - or even being required to own a computer - the Kindle was the first "self-contained" ereader that worked out of the box without requiring a PC - and was tied into the existing Kindle store - for one click purchases & impulse buys.

So - do the same with a tablet. Amazon has already established the required digital infrastructure to support a tablet - video, music, cloud drive, kindle books, app store, etc. - which all got pushed to the top of the menu on Amazon's main page. Yes - you can fully engage with Amazon digital content now on existing tablets. But for the tech-wary, or current Kindle-only owners who may be curious - launch a tablet fully integrated into the Kindle digital infrastructure - with "one-click" access to apps, music, movies, etc. No computer required. No computer knowledge required. All your stuff stored in the Amazon cloud. Keep & read all of your Kindle books. Add movies! Add music! Add cool apps! All you have to do is tap that "Buy Now" icon. Make the tablet work right out of the box - and have it locked into Amazon - which can supply all your digital needs. And supported by the legendary Amazon level of customer support.
And price it under an iPad.
This could be one way of transitioning Kindle-only owners who "only want to read" rather painlessly into the tablet arena.

[taming]

I use the site to watch for price drops on books I am interested in. I seldom find one of the listed free books of interest to me. And when I do, they seem to be free elsewhere, too. I am sure that people with reading preferences different from my own can find some real gems.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by HarryT

What are the comparative figures for the number of free ebooks at Amazon, B&N, and - what's the third store you're comparing? Kobo? Sony?

Kobo, B&N - a dozen free ebooks a week
Amazon - a hundred plus free ebooks each week.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

The point is that those other stores don't service their customer base the way that Amazon does with the freebies.

If I find a book free at Amazon, odds are it's free elsewhere if it's on offer at the other stores as well. And if it's not free at the other site at the same time, I find that it will be soon. So a lot, if not most, freebies aren't limited to Amazon at all.

I think you're assuming that it's Amazon who's making the decision to offer a book for free, rather than the author or the publisher. If it's from one of the Agency Six, then they're certainly deciding that for themselves. I don't see why other authors wouldn't do that as well if they think it's in their best interest in order to build up a fan base and advertise their own work.

I haven't seen anything anywhere that suggests that Amazon is the one choosing the freebies to offer and then paying the author for each download anyway. Which is what they'd have to do to make the book a "loss leader".

What evidence do you have that the freebies actually are Amazon's decisions to make, and that they're losing money on them?

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by DuskyRose

If I find a book free at Amazon, odds are it's free elsewhere if it's on offer at the other stores as well. And if it's not free at the other site at the same time, I find that it will be soon. So a lot, if not most, freebies aren't limited to Amazon at all.

I think you're assuming that it's Amazon who's making the decision to offer a book for free, rather than the author or the publisher. If it's from one of the Agency Six, then they're certainly deciding that for themselves. I don't see why other authors wouldn't do that as well if they think it's in their best interest in order to build up a fan base and advertise their own work.

I haven't seen anything anywhere that suggests that Amazon is the one choosing the freebies to offer and then paying the author for each download anyway. Which is what they'd have to do to make the book a "loss leader".

What evidence do you have that the freebies actually are Amazon's decisions to make, and that they're losing money on them?

Oh, I doubt Amazon are losing money on the digital content; the reproduction and distribution costs are too low.

And I think the free ebooks are the idea of Amazon, even if Amazon didn't lower the price themselves. They're using the same model for mp3s and for the free daily Android app.

[Dopedangel]

Looking at how hp sold out its tablets this weekend by bringing the price to $100-150 range
despite the fact it stated that it would no longer support its OS.
Tell's you their is a large untapped market for cheap but good name brand tablets and I feel Amazon is in a position to exploit it while still being profitable unlike hardware manufacturers like samsung, Sony, Lg etc.
I think this holiday season could be the last chance for Google\Android to gain a real foothold in the tablet market as Windows 8 for Arm processors is around the corner so google need to lock in as many users it can before that. Its going to be an interesting holiday season for tablets with Ipad 3 no likely to be released till March next year.(Although I sometimes wonder if Apple spreads these rumours on purpose something is not possible etc Then springs it on the public who is laps it up)

[ProfCrash]

When the hell is Amazon going to release the tablet? My birthday is coming up nd I am trying to decide on a tablet.

[stonetools]

Everyone, the above post was inspired by someone saying that the AmazonTab would be sold below cost as a loss leader (so Amazon could sell digital content). My point as that the digital content itself was the loss leader.

Completely agree. Tablets aren't razor blades.

My understanding is that Amazon is going to price the Am Tab below the IPad, with cheaper innards, so the Am Tab will be less capable ( Can't be too less capable, though- it has to run those movies Amazon will be selling).
I foresee geeks who have been calling for "cheaper Andriod tablets" to immediately start grumbling about lack of performance and responsiveness.

I agree with Pooh-bear that its going to be completely computer-independent and locked into the various Amazon stores ( much to the disgust of the "openness" police, who will complain that Amazon is not living up to true "open source" ideals).

Given Amazon's record of releasing great products on day one, I think tthe AmTab ( or the APad, as I call it) will be a big success.

[stonetools]

Looking at how hp sold out its tablets this weekend by bringing the price to $100-150 range
despite the fact it stated that it would no longer support its OS.

Er, HP was liquidating its product line. That's a bit different from selling a product over time.

[din155]

Originally Posted by stonetools

Er, HP was liquidating its product line. That's a bit different from selling a product over time.

That doesn't change the view that there is a place for cheap tablet with good brand name. On the contrary the sell out of HP touch pad in spite of no future support tells that people will buy cheap tablet.

din

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by din155

That doesn't change the view that there is a place for cheap tablet with good brand name. On the contrary the sell out of HP touch pad in spite of no future support tells that people will buy cheap tablet.

din

The cynic in me wonders what proportion of those sales will immediately reappear on eBay.