Like many other companies, Amazon will probably have some gathering of its management team towards the end of the year in order to review the company’s 2009 performance. They will have plenty of reason to feel content. It’s been a great year for Amazon - and a good deal of the credit for that must be attributed to the Kindle e-book reader.

The launch of the Kindle 2 took place in February 2009 and it was widely perceived to be a big step forward for e-book readers in general and the Kindle in particular. Amazon had obviously paid close attention to the customer feedback regarding the original Kindle - released in 2007 - and had incorporated a number of improvements. Increased storage capacity, longer battery life and faster page turns were just some of the enhancements. It looked a lot nicer too.

The Kindle’s launch was marked by the release of “Ur” - a novella in Kindle format - by best selling author Stephen King. Surrounded by publicity, the Kindle 2 almost immediately become the hot and trendy gadget of 2009.

Amazon followed up, just a few months later in June, with the release of the Kindle DX. The large DX screen made it ideal for readers of magazines, newspapers and academic textbooks. Surprisingly, it was the traditional world of academic publishing which generated a lot of publicity for the new DX.

The academic community was quick to realise the potential benefits the Kindle offered. Not only would it be very much easier to update textbooks but interactive eduction - pop quizzes and tests for example - would be possible. Academic bodies would not only save money as a result of using paperless books, but they would be more environmentally friendly also - an important factor for such institutions who have both budgets and environmental targets to meet these days.

As well as establishing partnerships with a number of colleges and universities, Amazon benefited from a lot of publicity generated by political bodies such as the New Democratic Leadership Council and Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger - both of whom waxed lyrical on the educational potential of e-book readers in general and the Amazon Kindle in particular.

Things were certainly looking good for Amazon - but there were some indications of trouble ahead. Having watched Amazon develop the e-book reader market, other manufacturers, quite naturally, decided to go after their share of this new and developing sector. The list of competitors, including such names as Apple, Sony, Barnes and Noble and Microsoft, all had their own e-book readers under development, with many of them scheduled for release in the near future.

It’s a compliment to Amazon - albeit a backhanded one - that virtually every e-book reader in development which displays any potential is instantly named the “Kindle Killer”. However, at the moment, and in spite of all the time and money spent on development by their competitors, Amazon is still, very much, the only show in town. The Nook reader by Barnes and Noble and Sony’s Daily Edition reader - two of the most eagerly awaited new readers - have both had their launch dates postponed. As a matter of fact, it seems ever more probable that the most likely source of the Kindle Killer could very well be Amazon itself. The Kindle 4 seems to be the biggest threat to the Kindle 2 and the DX. Will Amazon release this in 2010?

Check out the Amazon Kindle reader and discover how to make it pay for itself by downloading free Kindle ebooks.

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