2010 – The Year Of The Ebook Reader

Amazon has had a great year in 2009. A lot of the credit for that must go to the Kindle ebook reader family. The Kindle 2.0 and its larger sibling, the DX, have been a huge success for Amazon. The Kindle is now Amazon’s number one selling product.

At this time, the Kindle enjoys a staggering 60% share of the American ebook reader market. Recently the Kindle 2 was launched globally. Even if Amazon can’t quite replicate the same high levels of success on the international stage (though there’s really no reason to suggest that they won’t) the increased market size alone is going to boost Amazon’s results in 2010.

Certainly, there are those who maintain that a lot of the Kindle’s success up to now has been due to a lack of true competition. There may be some truth in the assertion that there haven’t, until recently, been many competing readers which could give the Kindle a run for its money – but the reality is that the main reason for the Kindle’s success is the fact that it was an innovative product which changed and redefined the market.

There’s certainly no shortage of alternative readers on offer today – with more due for release in the very near future. There is a lengthy list of competing manufacturers who either have readers available or have them in development. This is a very strong indication of the level of growth which can be expected in the ebook reader market in the near future. The market may be nascent and still developing rapidly, but it has received strong support from a wide variety of sources, including the normally traditional world of academic publishing and a number of different political bodies. A period of very rapid growth seems highly likely.

Another good indicator of the expected level of growth in this sector is the high volume of third party goods available to protect, customise and accessorise ebook readers. At the moment the majority of these items are intended for Amazon’s Kindle reader. If you want a Kindle cover, Kindle reading light or a spare charger then there are plenty of independent manufacturers ready and willing to meet your needs. The choice for new readers, such as Sony’s Daily Edition and the Nook reader from Barnes and Noble will gradually expand as their popularity increases.

Just as 2009 was a good year for Amazon, we can expect 2010 to see ebook readers in general become more and more popular. Amazon’s dominance will be challenged and increased competition will drive prices lower – perhaps to the point where such readers enter the mainstream consumer electronics arena.

Many industry insiders seem to agree that a price somewhere in the region of $ 150 is what will trigger this. With the high level of competition that seems likely for 2010, together with the amount of development work currently being undertaken, it’s just possible that we may see this being achieved sometime in 2010.

Check out the Kindle ebook reader and see the full range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalize it to suit your needs.