What is it with the Kindle?
Amazon.com has announced that its Kindle electronic book is sold out until February 2009. The Kindle seems to have always been in short supply, and this holiday season it will be in the shortest supply possible. It is hard to understand why a pure marketing organization like Amazon would not have a sufficient grasp of supply and demand to make the device available for sale, especially given that the device has become responsible for a substantial quantity of its sales.
There has been a lot of speculation that the Kindle v.1.0 is sold out because Amazon is simply making room for the Kindle v.2.0. Features of this hopefully much improved model have been leaked over the past few months and make it look much more attractive that the original. It makes sense to sell out of the original in order not to get stuck with them when the new model comes out. But it does not make a great deal of sense to be sold out of a popular product during the prime buying season, especially with the economy still headed downhill.
Of course, it is possible to find the Kindle on Ebay, although at significantly higher prices than retail. There are even used units available through the Amazon reseller network, starting at $359 and running as high as $995, according to a story at pcmag.com. That article also contains the surprising result of an informal survey taken by the author: more than two-thirds of his respondents would be happy to buy a used Kindle v.1.0. That is very surprising, given the high prices and the certainty that a new unit will be coming out soon.
The Kindle v.2.0 has not been leaked in its entirely and in its final form, but there were several shortfalls to its design and functionality, mainly relating to the look and feel. In short, the Kindle could have been designed to feel and work much more like an actual book. However, with the Kindle now accounting for a reported 10% of Amazon book sales, it becomes hard to argue with its success. Now, if Amazon would just make it available for sale…
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December 8th, 2008
You can still get a refurbished Kindles by Christmas:
http://www.tinyurl.com/RefurbKindle
Dozens have been sold and shipped this week, but go in an out of stock. They won’t last, so order one while you can. If you they are out of stock when you check, be sure to read my post about playing Kindle Lotto:
http://beesontheknob.blogspot.com/2008/12/kindle-lotto-score-kindle-by-christmas.html
You too can have a bright shiny Kindle under the tree this year, and without having to pay the exorbitant prices on eBay.