June 21st Update: Really Big News as there’s a Kindle International Price Drop with a new price of $189. That’s a $70 price cut – Amazon did it to match the Nook’s $199.
Amazon have also consolidated the two Kindle 2 versions into one Kindle 2. There is no longer a Kindle US – Just the Kindle International. You can still get a refurbished Kindle 2 US version for $139.
You can get a $20 refund if you bought a Kindle International for $279. You can return the Kindle US and get a Kindle International if you bought a Kindle in the last 30 days.
Kindle Conslidation – Just 1 Kindle 2 now.
This is a very good move. It makes things simple. Wonder what people who bought the Kindle US will feel. On the plus side -
- There is a 30 day refund period.
- The Kindle International is the same price now.
- Amazon can sell returned Kindles as Refurbished Kindle 2s.
So there’s a reasonable solution that should work out for everyone.
Kindle International Price Cut by $20
It’s not a coincidence that the price matches the price of the Barnes and Noble Nook.
Now you get Kindle 2 with International WhisperNet and Free Wikipedia in 80+ countries for just $259.
Is this Amazon’s reaction to Barnes and Noble’s Nook? A $20 price-cut.
They do need to do more than just this. PDF Support and Folders would be a good start. Perhaps Amazon have something much bigger lined up.
Kindle 3 might be around the corner.
Obviously the price-cut on the Kindle 2 US was to reduce stock, and now Amazon have sold them all and are moving the price of the remaining Kindle lower to match the Nook.
The International WhisperNet capability gives the Kindle 2 an instant extra advantage over the Nook (it’s still a tie though). Free Wikipedia access (only in English) helps too.
My gut feeling is that Amazon is getting ready for a Kindle 3 release.
That would explain the consolidation of the two models of the Kindle 2. Perhaps it’ll be something priced around $300 or $325 and cater to people looking for a latest generation Kindle.
Top Features Kindle 3 Might Have
- TouchScreen.
- An as yet unknown killer feature.
- Folders and better search and utilities.
- Some jump in the interface.
It has been 8 months since Kindle 2 was released. It would be the perfect time to release a Kindle 3. Till then we have the kindle international price drop and one conslidated Kindle 2.
Filed under: kindle 2, kindle international Tagged: | kindle international price drop, kindle price drop
Amazon are giving automatic refunds to Int Kindle owners. Got my email this morning.
On this…
“…Now you get Kindle 2 with International WhisperNet and Free Wikipedia in 80+ countries for just $259…”
Not true. I’ve only had the device since yesterday and I love it but once Sony and others get their ‘buy-over-the-air’ stores working (if they do a good job) many of the advantages you cite for K2 over its competitors do not exist in the rest of the world. I’m sure Amazon is working like mad to solve this, but at this point everything is open and up for grabs. And that’s as it should be.
Trying to log into my Amazon account yesterday to track my order was akin to trying to log into a site that was under a DDoS attack. I think they probably sold one or two Kindles in this round.
I stand corrected on the above. Just tried Wiki again and it worked. If this is true across the other territories then it is a big deal.
thanks for the update Paul. Yes, there are reports from multiple countries that Wikipedia is working (only English version and images don’t load).
[...] drop the price of the international kindle and phase out the US [...]