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Prices fall for electronic book readers as firms fight for market share

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June 22, 2010

 

A price war is heating up in the electronic reader market, after Amazon.com Inc. slashed the price of the Kindle by $70 to $189 just a few hours after bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. reduced the price of the Nook by $60 to $199. Barnes & Noble also said it would also start selling a new Nook with Wi-Fi access for $149.

Both the Kindle and the original Nook can wirelessly download books over high-speed data networks; the Nook also has Wi-Fi access.

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The Nook
(Getty Images File)

 

 

E-READER PRICES

Here are some retail prices for electronic book readers and Apple’s iPad:

Amazon.com’s Kindle: $189
Barnes & Noble’s original Nook: $199
B&N’s new Wi-Fi-only Nook: $149
Borders’ Kobo eReader: $149
Apple’s iPad: Starts at $499
Sony Reader Pocket Edition: $169
Sony Reader Daily Edition: $350  

AP

 

 

Seattle-based Amazon has lowered the Kindle’s price several times since the e-reader with a grayscale screen debuted in 2007 at $399. In October, the online retailer dropped the price to $259 from $299. Amazon also sells a larger-screen Kindle, the Kindle DX, for $489.

The Nook was released late last year for $259.

Both e-readers are creeping closer to the price of bookstore chain Borders Group Inc.’s new $149 Kobo e-reader, which will be available in July and work with Borders’ online bookstore.

And the cuts mean the price gap between these products and Apple Inc.’s touchscreen iPad, which starts at $499, is getting ever wider.

AP