The theme of Amazon’s Thursday afternoon press conference in Santa Monica was not so much the device particulars as ceo Jeff Bezos’s revised explanation of their goal and purpose: “People don’t want gadgets anymore. They want services. They want services that improve over time.” And “Kindle Fire is a service.” Bezos also explained, “We want to make money when people USE our devices, not when they BUY our devices. That is better alignment.” (Last year’s opening pitch for Kindle Fire was that “what we’re doing is making premium products and offering them at non-premium prices.”) The new mantra translates into […]
eNews
Trade Sales Rise In May; eBooks Hit New Record
The AAP monthly sales reports remain relentlessly cheerful, with May statistics released Wednesday morning showing strong trade sales and another burst in ebook sales. Total trade sales from the reporting publishers were $535 million, up 17 percent from $457 million a year ago. In contrast to some previous months, the gains came from higher true shipments/sales in multiple categories, rather than just fewer returns. eBook sales, which had been growing at a slower pace since last fall, hit a new record for the month, at $133.7 million overall–well ahead of the previous high mark of $121.1 million in January. (That […]
eNews: First Kobo Announces New eReader and Tablet Devices; Amazon Product Launch Rumor Mill
As is now their custom, Kobo took the unassuming route of announcing its latest line of ereaders and tablets by press release on Wednesday morning, a few hours before Amazon is set to launch their newest devices in Santa Monica at a press conference (at 1:30 Eastern). Clearly glo(w)ing ereaders will be abundant this fall, following Nook’s successful launch of their GlowLight model and an authentic-seeming leak of the Kindle Paperwhite: Kobo will ship the $129 Glo (eInk reader with frontlit screen) and $80 Mini (smaller 5″ touchscreen) on October 1, with the 7″ Arc tablet, priced at $199 (8GB) and […]
Amazon Will Launch New Kindle Fire Next Week; Has Sold Roughly 6 Million Units
Amazon essentially confirmed in a press release that next week’s press conference will include a new version of their Kindle Fire, since the first edition is now “sold out.” CEO Jeff Bezos says, “Kindle Fire is sold out, but we have an exciting roadmap ahead.” Amazon claims that over the past nine months (between December and August, including pre-orders), “Kindle Fire has captured 22 percent of tablet sales in the US.” Thanks to the recent court case between Apple and Samsung, we have pretty precise comps for tablet sales from those two companies. (Also thanks to that case, we know […]
Nook Adds Argos, Blackwell’s, and Foyles as UK Partners
Barnes & Noble announced that retailer Argos, academic bookseller Blackwell’s and independent bookstore Foyles will also sell the Nook in the UK as of October, after announcing its deal with John Lewis earlier in the week. The Argos deal is particularly significant as it means the Simple Touch and GlowLight devices will be sold in a chain of 700 stores, while Blackwell’s and Foyles enables BN to have some bookstore presence to compete with WHSmith (which stocks Kobo) and Waterstones (which sells Kindle.) In a statement BN director of digital products Jamie Iannone touted that “Argos built its brand on […]
Ingram to Distribute Amazon NY’s eBooks
Amazon New York has said for many months it was their intention to make the start-up imprint’s ebooks available for sale by other ebooksellers. Though they are down to the wire, since their fall release schedule started yesterday with Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine’s OUTSIDE IN: The Power of Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business, and Jessica Valenti’s WHY HAVE KIDS? publishes September 4, the line has reached a distribution agreement with Ingram’s Core Source program, paidContent reports. That agreement comes after Amazon dipped a toe into making their ebooks non-exclusive as we reported in June, when Houghton Mifflin […]