Tablet Wars – Amazon's Kindle and E-book readers become Obsolete

Amazon’s early success with Kindle

Amazon garnered a lot of success though its E-book reader Kindle when there was hardly any competition in the market.The Kindle fitted synergistically with it existing business of selling books over the Internet.It has found a winning combination of Hardware and Software  which was one of the major reasons for the sharp rise in its stock price.However iPad is giving Amazon the jitters and a new version of Kindle with a thinner and more responsive screen is not going to save it.

Apple’s iPad has changed the whole game

The entry of Apple’s iPad has changed the whole game for the E-book reader/Tablet industry.Just like it shook up the Smartphone segment with the introduction of the iPhone,Apple’s iPad has generated a worldwide euphoria with even the earlier skeptics joining the iPad bandwagon.Amazon,Barnes and Noble and Sony which were the 3 companies with e-book readers suddenly have had their e-book readers questioned as a viable useful product . The iPad and other Tablets following in its wake have suddenly made the e-book reader segment look redundant.With the iPad’s functionality ,design and ease of use miles ahead of the e-book readers,it will be difficult for Amazon to survive in the Tablet Segment.

Tablet – potentially the next most fought segment

The Technology Wars between 5-10 Technology Companies is becoming more and more intense with new fronts being opened almost on a daily basis.Apple has Thrown open a new Technology segment where non existed earlier – Tablets.While Smartphones continue to be the hottest fought over Technology Segment,Tablets have the potential to overtake Smartphones.

Amazon.com Is Said to Be Introducing Thinner Kindle in August – Bloomberg

Amazon.com Inc., the world’s largest online retailer, plans to introduce the next version of its Kindle electronic-book reader in August, according to two people familiar with its plans.The device will be thinner and have a more responsive screen with a sharper picture, the people said, who didn’t want to be identified because the plans aren’t public. The new Kindle won’t include a touch screen or color, they said.

Amazon.com, which introduced the Kindle in 2007, faces increased competition from Apple Inc.’s iPad — a color tablet device that lets users browse the Web, watch video and read digital books. The new Kindle may be aimed more at Amazon.com’s original e-reader competitors — Sony Corp. and Barnes & Noble Inc. — than the newer threat from the iPad, said James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc.“It’s probably likely that Amazon already had this one in mind, more out of a response to Sony than out of any response to Apple,” McQuivey said. Amazon.com may not have a direct challenger to the iPad this year, he said.

Apple’s iPad goes global – Reuters

Fans mobbed Apple Inc stores in Europe and Asia as the iPad went on sale outside the United States on Friday, with some shoppers having queued all night to buy one of the coveted tablet computers.The device, a little smaller than a regular notebook computer and with an open, color touchscreen, is designed for surfing the Web, watching movies and reading, and has been hailed by the publishing industry as a potential life-saver.

Apple sold a million iPads in the United States in the first month after its April 3 debut, exceeding the most bullish pre-launch estimates. Demand was so heavy that the company delayed the international launch.”I wanted to touch it as soon as possible. I felt real excitement when it was finally in my hands,” said Takechiyo Yamanaka, 19, who had camped out in front of Tokyo’s flagship Apple store from Wednesday evening to be the first in line.