Kindle Review – Kindle Fire Review, Kindle 4 Review

As the Kindle grows in popularity the Kindle eco-system is exploding. NorthJersey.com covers one success story - Eric Fisherman who is the maker of the Persicope Book Cover and Light.

The Kindle Periscope Story

It’s a captivating account with a great back-story -

Eric Fisherman acquired rights in 2006 to sell the Periscope, which his father, Carl Fisherman, invented more than 20 years ago and sold through other companies.

Eric re-worked his father’s design to work for the Kindle.

This holiday season the covers sold out. It’s not a surprise as they address two of the biggest Kindle needs i.e. cover and reading light, in one device.

1. Eric says he tripled his business last year but won’t give out figures. Smart move.
2. He runs it all himself – covers are manufactured in China, sales, marketing, packaging was outsourced to freelancers, and UPS handles shipping.
3. The article says his rivals, M-Edge of Maryland, and Gold Crest of California (Mighty Bright Lights), are much bigger companies.
4. It was interesting to find out the Periscope can hold a notepad and pen on the left side, and that there are twin LED lights that last 40 hours on 3 AA batteries.
5. Based on sales volume Amazon invited Eric to sell in the Kindle Store (though it shows up in Electronics).
6. A Periscope for the Kindle DX is planned. As is one for the Nook.

By the way both M-Edge covers and Mighty Bright Lights are excellent products – there’s a reason they’re the bestselling Kindle accessories. The Periscope’s big advantage is that it combines the two functions into one device – although the price could be $10 less.

As Kindle Sales increase Kindle Accessories become a huge market

The Consumer Electronics Association has these estimates for eReader Sales -

 estimates 2.2 million e-readers were sold last year, nearly four times the 2008 number and up from 20,000 in 2006.

“We are estimating the market will more than double to more than 5 million in 2010, with more than $1 billion in sales.”

Whether you think the Kindle is 40% of that or 80% of that it’s a huge number.

Since the Kindle 2 doesn’t come with a cover or a reading light we’ll literally get millions of people looking for -

1. Kindle Covers. There are 167 different varieties of Cases (including variations in color) for the Kindle 2 in the Kindle Store.
2. Kindle Reading Lights. Just 3 models here and lots of opportunity.

We’ll also get some Kindle owners looking for -

1. Headphones. A few models are in the Top 25 Kindle Accessories.
2. Car Chargers.
3. Kindle Screen Protectors.
4. Kindle Skins. 

There are just a lot of opportunities.

Any accessory company not targeting eReaders, especially the Kindle, is really missing out.

The 2 Big Prizes: Kindle Covers and Kindle Reading Lights

Kindle Covers are booming

There are a huge number of options for Kindle 2 cases in the Kindle Store -

1. A standard leather cover from Amazon.
2. Neoprene cases from Belkin and Built. 
3. Lots of cases from M-Edge – leather, sports, etc.
4. Nylon sleeve from Timbuk2.
5. Cole Haan premium leather cases for $100 each.
6. Kindle sleeves from Octo.  

M-Edge has a ton of product lines (including New Yorker themed covers) and dominates with 18 of the top 24 bestselling Kindle 2 cases.

If we sell 2-5 million Kindles in 2010 (and it’s pretty likely) M-Edge stands to make a ridiculous amount of money.

In addition to these options we also have Kindle cases being sold at Etsy, eBay, and at many stores and sites online (like sfbags.com).

Kindle Reading Lights are the least competitive market

It’s puzzling that there are just 3 featured reading lights in the Kindle Store -

1. Mighty Bright’s XtraFlex 2 which has been #1 forever. 
2. M-Edge’s eLuminator 2. 
3. Great Point Flex Neck Light.

Even if just 25% of Kindle owners buy a reading light that’s a market ig enough to support more than 3 companies.

The Bigger Prize: eReader Accessories in General

The Kindle is booming as part of the boom in eReaders.

We’re going to see the following devices sell well this year -

1. The Kindle. 
2. Apple iSlate. 
3. Sony Reader.
4. The Nook.
5. Kindle DX.
6. Entourage Edge.
7. The Alex.
8. Hearst’s Skiff.
9. Que.
10. Kindle Electronic Pen .

Plus a lot of the other eReaders will sell decently. 

People will be spending -

1. $20 to $100 on a cover.
2. $5 to $20 on a reading light.
3. $5 to $10 on a screen protector.
4. $10 to $20 on an ereader skin.
5. $10 to $25 on car chargers and replacement chargers.
6. $40 to $60 on an eReader warranty.

That’s a ton of money up for grabs.

eReader Accessories are the third most important revenue stream in the eReader ecosystem.

The Biggest Prizes are way too competitive

The biggest prize of the Kindle ecosystem is obviously books. Even more than the eReaders themselves (which are 2nd).

However, there’s way too much competition.

With Books you’d have to take on -

1. Google. Who’d want to take on a company brave/reckless enough to take on China .
2. Amazon.
3. Barnes & Noble.
4. Borders and Kobo Books.
5. Online giants like Scribd and Lulu.

With eReaders you have to take on -

1. Amazon. Who’d want to take on a company brave enough to take on WalMart.
2. Apple – potentially. Not a good idea to take on Apple while Mr. Jobs is around.
3. Sony. Even the runner-up companies are dangerous, dangerous enemies.
4. Barnes & Noble. 

Which leaves us with the third most valuable revenue stream.

eReader Accessories are the market to get into

How much could you make off of eReader Accessories?

1. Assume $25 per year on eReader accessories per eReader owner – a pretty reasonable estimate.
2. Assume 5 million eReaders sold in 2010.
3. That’s an easy $125 million business.
4. Assume 2.5 million eReaders sold so far and you can make $10 per year from them.
5. That’s an extra $25 million.

We get a total potential market of $150 million. That’s off of a very conservative estimate.

Just the Kindle accessories market might be that big. 

eReader accessories as a whole will definitely be. Plus you don’t have to take on Amazon or Apple or even Plastic Logic for this $150 million.

Why aren’t more companies getting into Kindle accessories and eReader accessories?

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