At the moment there are an incredible number of manufacturers fighting it out in the emerging, but rapidly growing, e-book reader market. The competition level is a clear signal that high growth is predicted in this sector. And this strong competition is going to be good for consumers as manufacturers fall over themselves to improve specifications and offer lower prices.

The list of major players who have e-book readers in various stages of development is impressive. Barnes and Noble, Plastic Logic, Sony, Asus, iRex, - don’t forget Microsoft and Apple - are all in line and struggling to secure their fair share of the market.

There’s not much doubt about the present market leader. Amazon’s Kindle reader has dominated the market, and has been instrumental in its development since its release in 2007. Now in its second generation with the Kindle 2 and the large format Kindle DX, Amazon has achieved a 60% share of the U.S. e-book reader market. The Kindle is now Amazon’s top selling product and, on October 19 this year, after a long wait, Amazon started shipping the Kindle 2 international version to more than 100 countries globally. It’s a compliment to Amazon that every new e-book reader announced (and there’s no lack of these, the list above is far from exhaustive) which displays any promise, is immediately named the “Kindle Killer”. At the moment, the Kindle reader sets the standard which must be met, and then surpassed, in order to achieve success.

If it appears as if the Kindle’s present leadership position is unassailable, then it’s probably worth considering that Amazon were a somewhat late entrant to the market when the Kindle was released. The original e-book reader is generally considered to be the Franklin eBookMan which launched in 1999 - ten years ago. The Sony PRS was also released before the Kindle’s launch in 2007.

The phenomenal success of the Kindle was due to a number of different factors. In the first place, Amazon had a strong association with books, being one of the largest online retailers. They were also able to offer a wide selection of books to download - at the moment they have over 300,000 titles at their Kindle store. The option of wireless connectivity - with no ongoing subscription- was another big plus point.

Just as Amazon came from nowhere to secure the top position, any one of the other competitors could do exactly the same - and probably faster than you might imagine. Barnes and Noble for example, have more than one million titles available for their new Nook e-book reader. They have also elected to use the ePub format - which most of the readers in development seem to be going for. The Kindle e-book format is proprietary. Purchase a Kindle book - read it on your Kindle (or maybe on your iPhone, but certainly not on any other reader).

The Nook will also allow you to “lend” books to your friends and family for a fourteen day period. During this time, the borrower will be able to read it and the lender will no longer have access to it on their Nook - just like lending a “real” book in fact. The only difference is that you will be guaranteed to get it back.

The next generation Sony reader - the Sony Daily Edition - will be a large display format, like the Kindle DX, but unlike the DX it will have touch screen control options. It will also allow users to download e-books from participating public libraries on loan. Again - just like a traditional book.

The other readers in development generally incorporate features that may well make them more appealing than the Kindle. Amazon certainly have a fight on their hands - and it seems certain that they won’t give up their number one position without a fight. Given their innovating role in the development of the market thus far, and considering the importance of the Kindle ebook reader to their business, it seems reasonable to expect them to have a few new ideas yet to be unleashed.

Given the level of activity amongst all of the different manufacturers, it looks like the e-book reader market is about to enter a period of exponential growth. It is to be hoped that the fierce competition that seems about to be unleashed will drive prices lower and transport e-book readers out of the high tech domain and into mainstream personal mobile tech market.

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