An Apple e-reader could overshadow Amazon's Kindle and B&N's Nook

Posted Oct 26th 2009 12:00PM by Brian White
Filed under: Competitive Strategy, Apple Inc (AAPL), Amazon.com (AMZN)

Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) recently announced an electronic e-reader to compete with the likes of the Amazon.com's (NASDAQ: AMZN) Kindle and Sony Corp.'s (NYSE: SNE) Reader.

In perfect holiday fashion, the e-reader is set to become the "must have" gadget for the gift-giving season almost upon us. The newer Nook device has a small color screen that allows easier content locating (but no keyboard), the ability to "lend" digital books to a friend and built-in wireless internet.

But, with all these gadgets storming and about to storm the market, is anyone considering Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)? The (arguably) most influential company in consumer technology right now has tens of millions of iPhones and iPod touch units in consumer's hands. A long-standing rumor has it that Apple may have a tablet-type computer in the works (a laptop without a keyboard?). What if Apple tries to do what it did with the most recent iPod nano? That is, add a video camera for free and take market share away from the $100 palm-size camcorder market just for fun?

The iPod nano did not need a camera. However, Apple saw the growing sales of products made by Flip (now owned by Cisco) as a market it apparently could not afford to miss. Would the iMaker want to turn its huge installed base of handheld products into very capable, color-screen e-readers? Sure, there are apps that already do this.

But, nobody knows Apple devices like Apple -- they could put the e-reader update into all these devices and market it like only Apple can do. Then, release a tablet computing device that's an e-reader plus web browser plus anything else. If Apple chooses this strategy, all the newer e-readers that are still in their infancy won't look so charming any longer. There's a burgeoning market, here -- and it's not like Apple to dismiss such a thing entirely.

Tags: AAPL, Amazon Kindle, Amazon.com, AMZN, Apple, Apple tablet, Barnes Noble, BKS, e-readers, inthenews, Nook, SNE, Sony

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-26-2009 @ 12:49PM

avg321 said...

Steve Jobs already said after the Kindle launch that he sees no future in this market because he sees no future in reading itself. Sad but true. People buying these things are largely 40 somethings. Once the target demographic is saturated it will start shrinking forever. Apple's products appeal to every age group, especially new generations, their market will always grow.

But if he changes his mind he just needs to make books available on itunes to be read with a 99 cent app on your iphone and that would be enough to seriously dent Amazon's market.

10-26-2009 @ 1:25PM

Chris said...

"There's a burgeoning market, here -- and it's not like Apple to dismiss such a thing entirely"

That's not really true. The netbook market has exploded and Apple has opted out of that market because they can't compete on price.

I hope Apple jumps into the e-book market because competition is good, but they won't be the first out with a color capable e-book reader. Those are coming in the spring from several manufacturers.

The iPhone will not affect the e-book reader market. Both the Nook and the Kindle allow you to read their books on the iPhone now. The iPhone has a small backlit screen that is terrible for long term reading.

10-26-2009 @ 5:54PM

justinmead said...

I do not see how I can profit from the idea so I will just keep throwing this idea out there until someone of these makers of like kind, makes it.

eBook readers need to blend the netbook and the ebook. A person should be able to have a FLEXIBLE eInk page on left, a rigid eInk page on right.. but then close those together, and open the other side of the rigid screen to see the netbook color screen, and qwerty keyboard with all the features of mini netbook. so that one can do email, social media, phone calls (include bluetooth earbuds people) video, and full web browsing for buying ebooks, researching on wiki and web...

keep this thing small so it replaces the laptop for 'always with me' factor and keep it functional so people can write, edit, browse.. but when want to kick back and read.. have the eInk ebook ability of high contrast low watt /battery drain and keep the storage as solid state for durability.

thats all. i mean next time you are reading a book.. notice that a perfectly flat page... gets tiring on the eyes... interesting no?

justin in colorado

10-26-2009 @ 5:13PM

Jrobinson said...

It cracks me up to see a comment like the gent above make "Steve Jobs already said after the Kindle launch that he sees no future in this market because he sees no future in reading itself"

What a ridiculous statement. As if people will stop reading.

E-readers are about to explode onto the market.The question is which format will people prefer?

In the last week announcements have been made about the Que proReader from Plastic Logic, the Alex from Spring Design, B&N came out with thier Nook, The enTourage eDGe™ a netbook /Ereader hybrid. Like cell phones peoples preferences will vary.

I think there is a lot of room in this hardware segment. However initially I think the long term players will come out with an e-reader that is simple, wireless, durable and one that most people can afford.

~Libertynewsprint.com