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

At the moment, 60% of America’s e-book reader market is serviced by the Kindle. The Kindle 2.0 recently launched internationally. Even if Amazon don’t achieve the same high level of success globally – although it’s hard to see why they wouldn’t – the enlarged volume of the market is going to help Amazon to even better results in 2010.

There are those who suggest that much of the Kindle’s success up to this point has been due to a lack of genuine competition. Whilst it may be true that there weren’t many e-book readers around to go head to head with the Kindle in the early stages, it would probably be nearer the mark to say that the Kindle’s success was chiefly due to the fact that it was an innovative, market changing product.

There are certainly enough alternative readers available today – or scheduled for launch in the near future. The lengthy list of companies which either already have their own readers on the market or planned for imminent release is a clear sign of the level of expansion which can be predicted in the e-book reader market. Whilst it is true that the market for ebook readers is still nascent, it has received support from various different sources – including the world of academic publishing and various political bodies. Rapid growth looks certain.

A further strong indicator of the anticipated level of growth in this sector is the high volume of third party goods available to customise, protect and accessorise ebook readers. Right now the majority of these goods are intended for Amazon’s Kindle reader. If you need a Kindle cover, Kindle reading light or a spare charger then there are plenty of independent manufacturers ready and willing to satisfy your requirements. The selection of items for alternative readers, such as Sony’s Daily Edition and the Nook reader from Barnes and Noble will gradually expand as their popularity grows.

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 higher levels of competition will drive prices lower – quite possibly to the point where such readers enter the mainstream consumer electronics arena.

Market analysts predict that a price of around $ 150 is what is required for this to happen. Bearing in mind the level of competition in the market, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that this price point would be attainable in 2010.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 17th, 2010 at 4:36 pm and is filed under Mobile Broadband. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.