LITTLE ROCK — Amazon.com Inc. last week cut the price of its Kindle electronic reader 27 percent to $189, just hours after Barnes & Noble Inc. announced a discount on its own e-book device, the Nook.
The Kindle’s price was cut from $259, Seattle-based Amazon said in a statement. Earlier, Barnes & Noble said the Nook, released last year for $259, will sell for $199.
While vying with each other, Amazon and Barnes & Noble also are trying to stave off competition from Apple Inc., maker of the iPad, which features digital books as well as computing, video display and Web access. Apple says it sold 3 million iPads in the first 80 days the device was available.
“Their sales have obviously been impacted by the iPad,” Charlie Wolf, a senior analyst at Needham & Co. in New York, said of the electronic-reader sellers. “These price cuts are almost an act of desperation.”
Borders Group Inc., the second-largest U.S. bookstore chain after Barnes & Noble, recently began selling e-readers for $119.99 to $149.99. U.S. sales of digital reading devices are projected to reach 5 million units this year from 2.2 million in 2009, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, an industry trade group.
Sales of digital books more than doubled to $27.4 million in April from a year earlier, while revenue from all forms of books rose 25 percent to $629.8 million, according to the Association of American Publishers.
Borders began selling Kobo Inc.’s e-reader in May for $149.99 and a device from Aluratek Inc. this month for $119.99.
Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, isn’t relying merely on price cuts to contend with Apple. In August, Amazon plans to introduce a thinner Kindle with a more responsive screen and a sharper picture, people familiar with the company’s plans said last month.
Sony Corp. also sells digital book readers for $169.99, $199.99 and $349.99. Dan Walsh, a spokesman for Sony’s Reader business, declined to comment when asked about possible price changes.
Barnes & Noble’s $199 e-reader includes access to an advanced wireless network. The company also offers a Wi-Fi only version for $149, according to a statement.
Business, Pages 22 on 06/28/2010