Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Google: progress or keep up?


A connection between eBooks sand tablets has been gradually established at present. In the meantime, we have seen an embarrassment from the business of eBooks and eReaders: the eBook market does a perfect job while the eReader market is not that satisfactory. What's more, diversified tablets have begun to occupy a predominant position in the mobile devices'market. Ebook giants like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony and Kobo have launched their tablets one by one. However, these leading companies'sales has not marginally improved according to their latest financial reports. With the new term's coming, what actions has Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Google took aiming at the tablet market?  

Amazon
Amazon pronounced to have sold out its popular Kindle Touch (both Wi-Fi and 3G) weeks ago. Soon the Kindle Fire was reportedly sold out. Amazon released a range of new products including two versions of Kindle Fire (7" and 8.9"), Kindle Paperwhite and upgraded Kindle on 6th Sept. There is no doubt that Amazon will expand its tablet market with the amazing titles. It is a bit unexpected that Amazon has finally determined to launch an 8.9" Kindle Fire (4G and Wi-Fi), which might bring some impact on the sales of iPad with an addition of 4G data package. Furthermore, the 16G Kindle Fire ($199) has come as Nexus 7' strong competitor with an HD display, the exclusive Dolby audio, dual stereo speakers and the affluent resources from Amazon.

Barnes & Noble

Compared to Amazon, Barnes & Noble put up a poor show in the battle of mobile gadgets. The product released in March, known as Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight, did not act as a remedy as expected but to make things worse. On 12th Aug, Barnes & Noble was eventually pressed to lower the price of its eReaders as well as tablets. But it doesn't retreat with the shrink of domestic market. Barnes & Noble has declared to launch two E-Ink readers (Nook Simple Touch and Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight) alongside its digital entitles in the UK next month and the collaboration with John Lewis, the UK's favorite retailer is worth looking forward to. Barnes & Noble might say goodbye to tablet market for the time being but it is sure to breathe new life into the UK eBook market. In addition, Barnes & Noble has launched Nook Study platform which provides textbooks for college students at lower prices but it is limited to a handful of OS right now.  


Google

Apparently, Google has won a striking victory in the tablet market. Google Nexus 7 has become people's favorite tablet among so many 7-inch picks with its android 4.1 OS (Jelly Bean), Quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 1280x800 HD display and bargain price. The price of $199 (8G) and $249 (16G) brings Nexus 7 a remarkable advantage over its opponents. Under the immense success of Nexus 7 (Wi-Fi), Google is rumored to launch Nexus 7 with 3G in October.

On the whole, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Google haven't chosen to keep up but to expand their business in their separate ways. From the aspect of tablet, we have seen the Google's good momentum for the moment. In all probability, Amazon Kindle will get a considerable piece from the action. Regarding Barnes & Noble, we do hope it will maintain its competitiveness in new area (including in the UK).

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