Amazon.com stiffs NZ in Kindle launch

AP

Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos with the Kindle e-reader.

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Internet shopping giant Amazon.com is now selling its Kindle wireless electronic reader in more than 100 countries - but Kiwis are out of luck.

New Zealand is one of about 60 countries where Amazon won't ship the Kindle, along with countries such as China, Indonesia, Singapore and Canada.

Amazon will ship the Kindle to Australia for US$279 (A$313 or NZ$380).

Amazon's decision to release the Kindle internationally gives the world's largest online retailer the widest global reach among its competitors, including chief rival Sony.

Amazon has an agreement with US telco AT&T wireless for the international version of the Kindle, under which the carrier handles global network relationships, Bezos said. The new device is designed to work with the globally popular 3G GSM standard.

The wireless coverage includes some countries where Amazon isn't shipping the Kindle, so the device will work those countries.

Amazon - which regards the Kindle as a pivotal growth driver - said over 200,000 English-language books from a host of publishers as well as more than 85 international and US newspapers and magazines would be available on the international device, which begins shipping October 19.

"Our vision for Kindle is every book ever printed, in print or out of print, in every language, all available within 60 seconds," Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said.

"That's a multi-decade vision," said Bezos, visiting a Kindle office in the Silicon Valley city of CupertiNo

Analysts have pondered the likelihood of Amazon developing the Kindle into a tablet-like device for tasks like emailing, texting and surfing the web, thus competing with devices reportedly being developed by Apple

But Bezos reiterated his intention to optimize the reading experience, saying the company rejects compromise, whether it be a touchscreen that affects legibility or computer displays that eat up too much power.

At the same time, Amazon is working on making Kindle digital books available on more devices. Besides the Kindle, those books can now be accessed on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

"We want you to read your Kindle books on laptops and smartphones, anything with an installed base," Bezos said. He said he was not "in principle" against making the works available on rival devices like Sony's, but was focused on platforms with "large installed bases."

NO MEAN FEAT

E-readers are expected by some to be the hottest gadget this holiday season and Bezos said he had "a lot of confidence" that it would be a "great holiday quarter for Kindle."

Forrester Research estimated 3 million e-reader devices would be sold in the United States in 2009, up from an earlier estimate of 2 million. That could double in 2010, bringing cumulative sales to 10 million by end-2010.

The research group predicts that Amazon will take 60 per cent market share in 2009, followed by Sony at 35 per cent.

In July, Credit Suisse estimated revenue and gross profit from the Kindle could reach $420 million and $35 million, respectively, in 2009, representing some 8.4 per cent of Amazon's total revenue.

Amazon, which introduced the Kindle in 2007, has until now made it only available in the United States, where it sold a basic version for US$299 and a larger one geared toward newspapers for US$489. The Kindle is only sold on Amazon.com.

The international version includes technology allowing it to operate in each market, but is otherwise identical to the second iteration of the Kindle - which can store up to 1,500 books, has a text-to-speech feature, and can read PDF files and allow users to make annotations.

"There is a big demand for English language books all over the world," said Bezos, adding that it would be available in every continent except Antarctica.

"We apologize for that omission. We'll work on that."

Electronic readers, made by a growing number of companies including Sony, which was first to market the reading device, allow users to read content on a paper-book sized tablet that downloads content digitally.

Sony's Reader - whose newest US$399 version is about to hit the market, with wireless and a touch screen - is available in North America, Britain and a handful of European countries.

Although Amazon does not release sales or profit figures for the Kindle, analysts believe it commands No 1 market share in a growing market fueled by more online activity and a lingering slump in publishing and retail bookselling.

The devices have proven popular with readers and travelers who like the convenience of downloads and avoiding heavy books, but high prices have kept many potential users at bay.

Bezos said that for every 100 customers who buy a book, some 48 buy it as an e-book - up from 35 five months ago.

- Stuff.co.nz and Reuters