Amazon has made a practice of cutting Kindle prices to generate more interest in the device. No matter how much discount consumers get from Amazon, many still complain about Kindle being too expensive. That’s going to be a harder case to argue if Amazon does manage to lower Kindle’s price to $150. Freescale Semiconductor, whose products power the majority of e-readers on the market, has claimed that e-reader prices could drop to below $150 with the new processors that the company has developed specifically for e-book readers.
With the ARM core running at 800 MHz, the i.MX508 provides twice the rendering performance of Freescale’s previous eReader processors, resulting in faster page turns and snappy responsiveness for consumers. The increased processing capability also gives manufacturers the additional performance to add features like advanced touch solutions and the ability to run other value-added applications.
That’s quite interesting as Amazon Kindle 3 is expected to feature touch capability and Kindle apps. So the new processor does seem to be a good step forward for Amazon.
By integrating the E Ink display controller, the i.MX508 reduces part counts and lowers costs associated with electronic paper display control functionality by as much as 50 percent compared to systems without an integrated controller. Freescale’s i.MX508 processor also helps OEMs lower costs by integrating dual USB/PHY and cost-effective raw NAND memory.
It seems the costs of manufacture ring e-readers are going to come down dramatically. That means e-reader makers are going to have the chance to pass their savings to customers. But will they? We all know that e-reader makers are struggling to keep publishers under control. Some of these companies may have to reduce their cuts to increase publishers to stay on board. So don’t expect Amazon to suddenly announce a $100 discount on its new Kindles. Kindle 3 is expected to be a whole different animal in comparison to Kindle 2. It’s tough to see Amazon introducing such a device for $150. ebook-reader prices will drop in the future. But let’s not forget that e-book readers are just tools. Unit price is not everything.
Your take: how low would you want Amazon and other e-reader makers to go with their e-book reader prices? What’s the magic number for you?
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