Kindle Review – Kindle Fire Review, Kindle 4 Review

There are so many signs that the Kindle US & International Release Date of October 19, 2009 was rushed -

Lack of Publicity 

1. No Press Conference to announce it and no build-up.
2. Haphazardly announced i.e. out of nowhere blogs start reporting it’s out. 

Contrast that with Kindle 1 and Kindle 2 and even the rushed Kindle DX – all of them got Press Conferences. Releasing the Kindle to 170+ countries without a Press Conference and a full build-up only makes sense if the release was hurried up.

Countries Left in the Lurch

1. The Help Guide is only translated into 3 languages (so only Kindle owners in France, Brazil, and Germany know what to do). 
2. Kindle Canada will be coming soon and Amazon is negotiating.
3. Vodafone have said they are negotiating to be the Kindle New Zealand wireless service provider.
4. Kindle Australia does not even get a charger. Think about that – you need to have a PC to charge it.
5. Amazon have said a UK centric Kindle will be released later.

An international release and you only have the manual available in 4 languages – Obviously the translations were on-track to finish later.

US Centric to a Ridiculous Degree

1. Everything flows through the US meaning Custom Duties and International Priority Courier charges.
2. Only 3 countries get Free Internet (a big Kindle value proposition).
3. Roaming charges are $2 per book download (even for books that you already own).

#1 Reason Kindle International Release Date was rushed

Read this NY Times Blog post talking about an October 20th B&N eReader (Plastic Logic) release date.

It makes perfect sense that Amazon would speed up the release of their new Kindle which works in the US and Internationally and make it release exactly one day before the rumored B&N release date.  

Look at what the Barnes & Noble and Plastic Logic eReader would have -

1. AT&T service – which means it could work worldwide. 
2. WiFi – which also enables worldwide use.  
3. Release date of Oct 20th – just in time to steal customers this holiday season. 

This is probably what happened

1. Amazon find out about the October 20th release date of the Plastic Logic and Barnes and Noble eReader. 
2. Amazon think they are going to lose a lot of US customers, especially lucrative business customers and travellers, to B&N because the Plastic Logic eReader has worldwide wireless from AT&T.
3. They go to AT&T and negotiate a last minute deal – which lets AT&T charge Amazon a ridiculous $2 per book download.
4. They rush up a Nov end release to October 19th to pre-empt B&N.

This would explain perfectly why they are having a half-baked release with little publicity.

Potential other reasons Kindle International Release Date was bumped to October 19

While the October 19th release date of the B&N and Plastic Logic eReader is almost certainly the actual reason the Kindle International release date was moved up there are a few other possibilities  -

1. Thanksgiving is a crucial part of the Shopping Season. Last year it was Oprah talking about Kindle on October 24th. This year Amazon might have something planned starring Kindle International. 
2. Sony with its 2 new releases and forthcoming Daily Edition might be getting too many sales. That would explain the Kindle 2 price-cut too (as would the intent to phase it out completely).   
3. Amazon got news that Apple is planning a surprise release of the Apple iReader in November or early December.

These are all reasons that make sense. However, it is only a potential release of the Apple Tablet or iReader, or the alleged October 19th release of the B&N eReader that are big enough to warrant such a quick move by Amazon.

Filed under: kindle international Tagged: | kindle international release date, why amazon rushed