US-based online shopping giant Amazon has cut the prices of the Japanese version of its Kindle e-reader. The price of the e-reader has been slashed even before the first customers get their hands on the device.
According to our sources, on November 8, 2012, the Wi-Fi only edition of Kindle PaperWhite will cost 500 yen less, making it 7,980 yen. The prices have been brought down as the competition in the sector has heated up.
The online retailer began taking pre-orders of the device on October 24, 2012. The first shipping of the device is expected on November 19, 2012. The recent discount announced by the company might work in favor of the online retailer against its rivals, which includes the Lideo e-reader, which comes with a price tag of 8,480 yen. This was the same price tag as that of the PaperWhite before the discount.
The Lideo uses free WiMax high speed wireless broadband technology, which allows users to connect to its BookLive eBook store, which has 95,000 titles, as compared to Amazon’s 50,000 Japanese titles. Even Sony and Rakuten, which is Japan’s online shopping store, have their e-readers ready. This is in addition to a vast number of electronics manufacturers, who have produced tablet computers before the year-end shopping season.
