Amazon Kills U.S. Kindle, Cuts International Price

orion2001 · 10-23-2009, 02:27 PM

I tried searching the forums but it doesn't seem like this has been posted yet.

Quote:

Perhaps to avoid consumer confusion, or to grab back a few headlines from Barnes and Noble’s sweet looking Nook e-reader, Amazon has dropped the Sprint-powered U.S. Kindle and now sells just the international version along with the super-sized DX. And the price has also been dropped to $260, the same as the old Kindle 2 and the same as the Nook. It looks like this fight is on.

Those of you who already bought the International Kindle for $280 upon launch, you’ll get a $20 refund from Amazon...

Full article here: Wired.com

Isn't competition great for the consumer?

hal_9000 · 10-23-2009, 02:33 PM

*confused*
so what do US customers get when they order a kindle? not a kindle 2? and not having sprint wireless?

AnemicOak · 10-23-2009, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hal_9000

*confused*
so what do US customers get when they order a kindle? not a kindle 2? and not having sprint wireless?

They get the same Kindle 2 that international folks get, the AT&T/GSM version.

I wouldn't doubt that what's happened is after lowering the price of the old K2 Amazon sold through the remaining stock faster than they thought they would. Bezos was already encouraging US customers to buy the Intl version and it makes sense they wouldn't carry to units which are virtually the same. Why the new price drop? It could be that they planned to drop it once they sold out of Sprint K2's or it could be a response to the Nook I suppose.

CleverClothe · 10-23-2009, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orion2001

I tried searching the forums but it doesn't seem like this has been posted yet.

You don't read the front page? :P

orion2001 · 10-23-2009, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CleverClothe

You don't read the front page? :P

We have a front page??

Heh, I guess I never check it. I think I missed the thread since it only mentioned the price change and I was looking for something mentioning the consolidation of the two

.

Mods - Feel free to lock/delete this thread if it is the same as another one.

DaleDe · 10-23-2009, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hal_9000

*confused*
so what do US customers get when they order a kindle? not a kindle 2? and not having sprint wireless?

do you mean sprint coverage area. Kindle does not require any ownership or cell plan on the part of the user. They connect on their own.

Dale

desertgrandma · 10-23-2009, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hal_9000

*confused*
so what do US customers get when they order a kindle? not a kindle 2? and not having sprint wireless?

They cut the "US only" Kindle and now sell the US/international version.

hal_9000 · 10-23-2009, 05:02 PM

thanks for the responses guys. i guess new US owners get the "international kindle" with AT&T wireless. but, i still don't understand:

1. is the "intenrational kindle" have identical hardware to the K2?
2. what about existing sprint kindles? i know amazon pays for the service, but will they keep existing kindles on sprint or switch them to AT&T? if they keep them on sprint, i assume they're going to have 2 different wireless providers for US customers? seems pretty complex...

questionfear · 10-23-2009, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hal_9000

thanks for the responses guys. i guess new US owners get the "international kindle" with AT&T wireless. but, i still don't understand:

1. is the "intenrational kindle" have identical hardware to the K2?
2. what about existing sprint kindles? i know amazon pays for the service, but will they keep existing kindles on sprint or switch them to AT&T? if they keep them on sprint, i assume they're going to have 2 different wireless providers for US customers? seems pretty complex...

Sounds like new Kindles will use AT&T. Existing Kindles will use Sprint.

This only is an issue for a consumer if they have exceptionally bad coverage for Sprint or AT&T.

Hellmark · 10-23-2009, 05:33 PM

One thing I read is that the international version will not have web browser access out side of the US. Does this mean that the international version not have a web browser? Web browser essentially useless outside the US? There are a few different ways this can be interpreted.

DaleDe · 10-23-2009, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hal_9000

thanks for the responses guys. i guess new US owners get the "international kindle" with AT&T wireless. but, i still don't understand:

1. is the "intenrational kindle" have identical hardware to the K2?
2. what about existing sprint kindles? i know amazon pays for the service, but will they keep existing kindles on sprint or switch them to AT&T? if they keep them on sprint, i assume they're going to have 2 different wireless providers for US customers? seems pretty complex...

The hardware for the 3G wireless is different. And yes the old and new systems will coexist for the foreseeable future. The complexity is hidden from the user and I expect that Amazon can manage it. The user doesn't need to care who the provider is so long as they can get a signal and download their stuff.

Dale

Elfwreck · 10-23-2009, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by questionfear

Sounds like new Kindles will use AT&T. Existing Kindles will use Sprint.

This only is an issue for a consumer if they have exceptionally bad coverage for Sprint or AT&T.

Or for three years down the line, when Amazon gets tired of paying for wifi for legacy customers. How long until Amazon decides it's too expensive to maintain two wireless plans, and older customers will need to upgrade to a new model to maintain the features they purchased?

Jonas777 · 10-23-2009, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hellmark

One thing I read is that the international version will not have web browser access out side of the US. Does this mean that the international version not have a web browser? Web browser essentially useless outside the US? There are a few different ways this can be interpreted.

The browser exists and I believe everything in the Kindle is the same for US and intl customers. However it depends on which network it connects to which functionality you get. Here in Sweden everything but wikipedia is off-limits currently.

Lemurion · 10-23-2009, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hal_9000

thanks for the responses guys. i guess new US owners get the "international kindle" with AT&T wireless. but, i still don't understand:

1. is the "intenrational kindle" have identical hardware to the K2?
2. what about existing sprint kindles? i know amazon pays for the service, but will they keep existing kindles on sprint or switch them to AT&T? if they keep them on sprint, i assume they're going to have 2 different wireless providers for US customers? seems pretty complex...

The question I have is why they ever made a CDMA model in the first place. Going with AT&T or T-Mobile would have made so much more sense. They must have known they were going to have to make a GSM model if they were ever to really have a hope of going international.

tech_au · 10-23-2009, 05:58 PM

As much as I hate to admit it, being a loyal Sony owner, with the cut in the price of the K2 it is now about $150 cheaper than the nearest local competitor the ECOreader at AU$449 so the K2 looks set to be the dominant Ebook reader in Oz for the next year or two.
With 280,000 books available that are automagically delivered to the reader with prices starting at $2 I can see the average Australian reader will go for it and won't care that they are locked to the Amazon store.

The availability of titles for Australia is a bit weird. Australian authors like Matthew Reilly are not available in Oz but available in the US.
The third Millenium book The Girl Who kicked The Hornet's Nest is available in Australia, UK and Europe but not the US until next year sometime.

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10-23-2009, 02:33 PM	#2
hal_9000 Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 84 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Orlando FL Device: Kindle 2	confused so what do US customers get when they order a kindle? not a kindle 2? and not having sprint wireless?

10-23-2009, 05:02 PM	#8
hal_9000 Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 84 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Orlando FL Device: Kindle 2	thanks for the responses guys. i guess new US owners get the "international kindle" with AT&T wireless. but, i still don't understand: 1. is the "intenrational kindle" have identical hardware to the K2? 2. what about existing sprint kindles? i know amazon pays for the service, but will they keep existing kindles on sprint or switch them to AT&T? if they keep them on sprint, i assume they're going to have 2 different wireless providers for US customers? seems pretty complex...

10-23-2009, 05:33 PM	#10
Hellmark Wizard Posts: 2,552 Karma: 3799999 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Foristell, Missouri, USA Device: Nokia N800, PRS-505, Nook STR Glowlight, Kindle 3, Kobo Libra 2	One thing I read is that the international version will not have web browser access out side of the US. Does this mean that the international version not have a web browser? Web browser essentially useless outside the US? There are a few different ways this can be interpreted.

10-23-2009, 05:58 PM	#15
tech_au Oz Bookworm Posts: 516 Karma: 4056 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Australia Device: Sony PRS 505,PRS 650	As much as I hate to admit it, being a loyal Sony owner, with the cut in the price of the K2 it is now about $150 cheaper than the nearest local competitor the ECOreader at AU$449 so the K2 looks set to be the dominant Ebook reader in Oz for the next year or two. With 280,000 books available that are automagically delivered to the reader with prices starting at $2 I can see the average Australian reader will go for it and won't care that they are locked to the Amazon store. The availability of titles for Australia is a bit weird. Australian authors like Matthew Reilly are not available in Oz but available in the US. The third Millenium book The Girl Who kicked The Hornet's Nest is available in Australia, UK and Europe but not the US until next year sometime.

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