Amazon’s Kindle e-reader set to arrive in Australia on 19 October

Online retailer Amazon has announced an international version of its popular Kindle e-reader device that will be released in over 100 countries as of 19 October at a price of $US279.

It is the first time the popular device, which is used to read electronic books, magazines and newspapers, will be released outside of the US since its initial launch in 2007.

The device looks similar to the US version, boasting a six-inch screen, while users will be able to download books through 3G connections with telcos. A library of over 200,000 books and 85 magazines and newspapers will be available for download, with the device holding a storage capacity of about 1.4GB.

“With this new Kindle, you can get your books, newspapers or magazines delivered wirelessly whether home or abroad in over 100 countries,” chief executive Jeff Bezos said in a statement. “Whether you’re in Paris, Mumbai or Sao Paolo, you can think of a book and be reading it in less than 60 seconds.”

“We have always had customers in countries all over the world buying English-language books from us,” he told Bloomberg. “Now those customers can get English-language books in 60 seconds wirelessly, instead of waiting two or three weeks.”

Bezos also said the $US81.5 million e-book market is continuing to grow. For every 100 printed books Amazon sells, he said, the company also sells 48 Kindle books, while figures from Forrester Research suggest three million e-books will be sold this year.

“People love reading Kindle books. It’s that simple. There are so many advantages over a paper book.”
But whether the e-reader takes off in Australia is a different matter.

Warren Chaisatien, managing director and principal analyst of Telsyte, says the device may be too niche for the market and might be overtaken by tablet computers.

“This is a niche device, and so far in the US it has done okay but not phenomenally. And I think what’s going to happen is that next year, we will see a number of tablet computers, including a device from Apple. That device is to be the “fourth screen” after the television, PC and mobile phone, to fill a void. I think these will overtake the need for dedicated e-readers, which is a niche device with a shelf life of about 18 to 24 months. Not bad, but very niche.”

Amazon already holds 45% of the US e-reader market, but analysts have pinned the release as an attempt to control the international market before any other player makes a similar attempt.

The international release could help the company establish a presence worldwide for products other than printed books, as global sales of general merchandise including clothing and jewellery are expected to surpass sales of books and films over the next few months.

The company is facing competition from Irex Technologies in the US, which is set to release an e-reader by the end of the month, while Plastic Logic expects to release another e-reader next year. The market could also be shaken up by the possible release of an Apple tablet device in January.