Apple's Kindle Killer To Test Amazon's Kindle Strategy
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Apple Netbook - Credit Gizmodo
Amazon Kindle is a very cool gadget and if we have learned anything about Amazon’s sales numbers (which are by the way not easy to find), it’s that people are willing to give devices such as Kindle a chance as long as they get a decent bang for their buck. And with Kindle they do. This week should be about Kindle and the buzz that Amazon’s latest price drop has generated on the Web, but Apple is stealing the headlines again with its Mediabook. That’s right. It’s back. I have written about Apple’s iPod XL a few times in the past few months, but the story seems to be gaining momentum yet again.
A Chinese news source has leaked a story about Apple working with a few companies to release Apple’s first netbook in October:
Taiwan’s high-tech supply chain companies said Apple will debut its first Netbook in October; Apple will pose itself to tackle the Christmas shopping season. Three (Taiwanese) corporations–Foxconn, Wintek, Dynapack–have received direct orders from Apple. (Wintek will be producing touch screens and providing relevant technologies for Apple.)
This latest rumor doesn’t give us too many facts. For starters, we do not know what type of computing power we are looking at or whether Apple’s planning to bundle it up with a wireless service. We also don’t know whether the screen will come with E-ink technology. We do know that the device will cost $800 (ouch!) and comes with a 9.7″ screen (sounds familiar anyone?). Technically, Apple iPod XL is not a direct challenger to Kindle, but when you have a device that has the same size as Kindle DX and can display e-books, you can’t help but think about the effects that iPod XL will have on Kindle’s market-share. So far, we don’t know the exact specifications of this device, but if Apple partners up with Google and some other publishers, who knows what this device is capable of. I wonder if Amazon would be open to putting up its Kindle app on this device. I think not.
Your turn: what does Apple need to do to beat Kindle in its own game?
