KDX $50 off, KPW23G shortages this season?
Hmm….
“Hey, buddy…you look like somebody who enjoys a classic. You want your page turn buttons? You want text-to-speech? How about free 3G…for web surfing, not just shopping? Want to carry 3,500 books with you? You hate that backlit screen? Tired of e-mails interrupting your reading? Well, I’ve got just the thing for you…and it’s fifty bucks off!”
Kindle DX, Free 3G, 9.7″ E Ink Display, 3G Works Globally
Yep…you can get the big screen Kindle DX for $189 right now.
Sure, the software is from the Bronze Age of EBRs (E-Book Readers), but this is a relatively good deal on it.
However, this other RSK (Reflective Screen Kindle…not a Fire) news is…intriguing.
You can order the Kindle Paperwhite 2 right now. It’s shipping in 7 to 10 days (I gave you a heads-up that I thought there might be shortages this year, or at least a need to order early). I’ve already got mine.
You know what Amazon has taken off of the front and center for ordering?
The Kindle Paperwhite 2…with 3G.
They used to have it on the “family stripe”, the image links at the top of a Kindle product page that show you the other Kindles.
You couldn’t pre-order it, but you could sign up to get an e-mail when it was released (I did).
Now?
It’s gone.
They have the current generation KPW3G up there instead.
When I click the link from my post,
Which Kindle should you buy? Fall 2013
it still takes me to the next gen model…still says it will be released November 5th…and now I can pre-order it! (I don’t think Amazon sent me an e-mail on that, by the way, I checked my Inbox).
What does this say to me?
They are worried about shortfalls this holiday season.
Why else would you stop promoting a model…that isn’t even released until November 5th?
My guess is that demand for the KPW2 is higher than Amazon expected…maybe a lot higher.
Perhaps people at Amazon were wondering where the market was for non-tablets, and they underestimated it.
The wi-fi only KPW2 is the 2nd best-selling electronic at Amazon as I write this (still behind Google’s Chromecast, as I first reported a couple of weeks ago…making it seem more likely to me that Amazon will release a cheap TV gadget this holiday season incorporating Miracast for their Kindle HDX line).
The list is intriguing: I would have thought the Kindle Fire HDX 7″, HDX Display, Wi-Fi, 16 GB – Includes Special Offers, being the new technology, would have been the most popular of the Fire tablets, but it’s not.
That honor (at #3 on the list) belongs to the least expensive one, the Kindle Fire HD 7″, HD Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB – Includes Special Offers. That one doesn’t have the live onscreen tech help called Mayday, and you won’t be able to download “no additional cost” Prime videos to it. The difference might just be that you can get the KFHD now (it was released October 2nd), and the KFHDX won’t be out until October 18th (that’s when I’m supposed to get mine, since I ordered right away…current orders are scheduled for October 28th).
I doubt that’s all of it, though…you would think people would wait on a tablet purchase, even if they are less expensive than they used to be.
It might also be a case of people buying from online reviews.
My guess is still that the lowest priced KFHDX will be the bestseller of the Fires during the holiday season…but $90 less to drop that X (KFHD versus KFHDX) may push the less expensive one to the top of the heap.
I’m thinking, though, that the reviews of KFHDX will help it…if it performs as advertised (Mayday has got to work well, and work well right away).
Let me just say this: if you want a Kindle (Fire or not), or even an accessory for this holiday season, don’t wait. Pre-order now.
I think it’s going to quite a year…
This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.