The Amazon Kindle reader is the runaway leader in the ebook reader market, and has been for some time now. Contrary to what many people imagine, it was not the first reader on the market – far from it in fact. The truth of the matter is that the Kindle has achieved its dominant position by offering consumers the best combination of hardware and accompanying ebooks available.
There are plenty of other very good readers on offer, but the tag team formed by the Kindle reader and Kindle books has made it difficult for other readers to establish any significant market share. There are over 900,000 Kindle books available on the Amazon website at the time of writing. A further 1.8 million out of copyright books can be downloaded free of charge.
Customers have plenty of choice. The availability of a wide range of ebooks gives customers the confidence to buy Kindle readers. Sales of Kindle readers inevitably drive sales of Kindle books ever higher. It’s a virtuous circle for Amazon and, unless some other company cracks the code, Amazon look set to be the driving force in the ebook and ebook reader market for the foreseeable future.
At the moment, the main contender would have to be the Nook reader from Barnes and Noble. Like Amazon, B&N has both the reader and the ebooks to go with it – in fact, they claim to have more titles on offer – 2,000,000 – than Amazon.
For quite some time now, Barnes and Noble have had to be content with playing second fiddle to Amazon. However, the recently released Nook Touch, complete with touch screen controls, looks like it could close the gap on the Kindle. Apart from the touch screen controls, the new Nook has a number of attractive features which could sway many customers in its favor. All things considered, it’s a big step in the right direction for Barnes and Noble. Whether or not it will prove sufficient to dislodge the Kindle remains to be seen.