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Amazon Kindle’s Biggest Threat: Apple’s iTunes & iPod Touch Tablet

Submitted by Ryan Spoon on January 2, 2009 – 7:55 amComments

After thinking more about yesterday’s post “Amazon Kindle + iPod Touch Tablet + Netbooks…?”, I am convinced that the Amazon Kindle (which I’m a big fan of) is going to die at the hands of Apple.

The Kindle is great – but at it’s core, it is an electronic book reader.

When Apple launches its forthcoming iPod Touch Tablet – you’ll have an ultra-sexy netbook with iTunes and all the other non-phone goodies Apple packages on it’s iPhone… and the book reader will be one possible feature.

iTunes already sells music, movies, television shows and applications… where are the books? Apple hasn’t had a device capable of delivering a good reading experience. But the iPod Tablet would change that. It would offer the same – and probably better – format that the Kindle does. It would be tied to your iTunes account such that you can manage all of your media files simply and from a single location.

And because it’s a netbook, you can access the internet to link out, subscribe to blogs, and so forth. Eliminating the downfall of the current Kindle (changes are coming in Kindle v2). The only thing lacking is Amazon’s constant connectivity through their wireless deal… but I suppose you could access your books on your iPhone as well (if you were so inclined) – or I am sure that AT&T would be willing to offer some monthly subscription / service.

Finally, inventory shouldn’t be an issue. Amazon has proven that authors and publishers are interested in selling electronically – and the sales numbers support its success. They’d gladly open up to another sales channel provided that Apple doesn’t screw them in the negotiated fee / revenue split.

Alas, much of this will come down to pricing. If the Kindle’s price doesn’t drop quickly, Apple will have an opportunity to take market share with a comparably priced Tablet… at prices anywhere near one another, the Tablet will win because it offers so much more in addition to e-books. But if the Kindle can handily win the pricing war… and solve inventory woes… conusmuers will have to ask if the Tablet’s extra features justify the higher price tag.

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  • Actually, as I've posted elsewhere, the iPhone and iPod Touch are already big threats to the Kindle in their current form factor.

    Unless you have significant vision impairment, the 3.5 inch screen (which has the same 160dpi dot pitch as the Kindle) is great for reading eBooks and the 400,000 people who have downloaded the Stanza eBook reader software agree.

    The killer feature of the current iPhone/iTouch is their actually their small size which allows them to be carried around with you everywhere to read eBooks whenever you have a spare half hour waiting for something.

    Of course being able to read in poor or no light as well as having a bright colour screen able to show colour photos and illustrations as well as video all of which the Kindle is unable to provide are the icing on the cake.

    -Mart
  • iphonerulez
    It will be an absolutely fantastic game machine if it has the VRGraphics chip. A color eBook reader, video and music player, artist's canvas, picture viewer, etc. If Apple can just get it out relatively quickly and price it halfway decently, Apple will hit a home run.
  • james katt
    I and millions of other people will buy one.

    The iBook (iPhone tablet) would be not only an ebook reader, but also an iPod and NetBook. It would have apps sold in the iTunes App Store - enormously improving its capabilities. It would be compatible with existing iPhone applications - fantastic!!!! It would be a games machine. It would allow travel with movies. The sky is the limit on this one.

    Kindle would immediately look OLD.

    Apple can negotiate its own contracts with publishers. It does not need Amazon at all. Why should it? There is no reason.

    Apple's Fairplay DRM works very well.

    Apple can even use the standard eBook DRM that publishers have declared.

    Or Apple can leave it up to an App Developer.

    Think of all the College and High School Students who can replace their textbooks with an iBook.

    It can allow you to put in a SIM card and access the internet through cellular networks. Think of Google Maps on this one. Apple can also develop its own mapping program with NavTech technology - or allow someone to do so - like TomTom.

    It would have GPS and a camera. It can even have a front-facing camera for true iChat video conferencing with other iBooks, iPhones, and Macintoshes.

    Wow!

    Give me one or several!
  • "They’d gladly open up to another sales channel provided that Apple doesn’t screw them in the negotiated fee / revenue split."

    I hand over 55% to Amazon.
  • stefn
    I want a larger iPod Touch that must still be pocketable. No tablets or laptops or netbooks. I want a wallet Mac that I have with me all the time, everywhere we go.

    Imagine what an anywhere, anytime Mac can feature as services!

    Nor should anyone have to buy more than one Mac. So the “MacTROU” (for The Rest of Us) must be untethered, like the Kindle, using EVDO. And a hundred times better than the Kindle, this gizmo connects to all your files on MobileMe.

    Apple can charge whatever it needs to for the mobile Mac, for the connectivity, and for a subscription to MobileMe.

    It's all about selling solutions, not simply gizmos. If Apple plays its card right, it can replace the wallet and the credit card. Forget about the Kindle.
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