Amazon has apparently hit the sweet spot with the new $189 price point for its Kindle device, as it is now completely sold out with no information on when new stock will be available.
This summer has seen a lot of heated competition over e-reading devices as the market has gone from a virtual monopoly owned by Amazon’s Kindle to a congested market filled with the Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and iPad.
In response to this, Amazon has been slashing the price of its Kindle to the point where it is now $189. Just last year it was $359.
Amazon has never released details on how many Kindle units have been sold since the first model came out in 2008, but company officials say that sales are strong and there is sustained growth.
The biggest threat to the Kindle is Apple’s iPad, which has sold more than 3 million units since it launched earlier this summer, but Amazon is convinced that many consumers still prefer having a dedicated reading device without an eye-straining LCD screen like the iPad.
Barnes & Noble’s Nook Wi-Fi and Borders’ Kobo are the least expensive e-readers on the market, each priced at around $150.
