Amazon has one of the hottest gadget families on the market. Kindle 2.0 and Kindle DX are both very popular and are selling like hot cakes. But you could argue that Amazon has had it easy with its customers. You don’t have to look too far back to realize what happens when a company releases 2 upgrades in 2 months. Customers get disgruntled. Some ask for their money back. Others start writing hate posts on forums. That’s what Amazon has done with Kindle 2.0 and DX. Apple did have a similar challenge a while back when they dropped their iPhone prices, but at least that was expected. You could easily argue that the majority of Kindle 2.0 buyers had no idea Kindle DX was in the works a few months ago. Fast forward a couple of months and Kindle 2.0 is not the top dog in Amazon Kindle family.
Amazon is running a business, and it had to introduce Kindle DX ahead of time for college students to take advantage of it. However, it could have offered a discount or some form of compensation to those of us who are feeling remorse over our Kindle 2.0 purchase. Kindle 2.0 is great gadget but paying an extra $130 to get a bigger, better Kindle is a no brainer for most Kindle fans. Amazon has been great in expanding the e-book market for itself. What it hasn’t done is realize the customers’ sense of entitlement to getting the best value from Amazon. The company has not properly addressed the issue of Kindle repairs either. That’s the easiest way to gain a few more disgruntled customers.
Your take: should Amazon offer a partial refund to Kindle 2.0 owners? Maybe a few free e-books to compensate them for their troubles? Do you feel Amazon should have done a better job informing its customers about releasing two Kindles in a span of 2 month?
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#1Kevin ElliottMay 26, 2009, 3:59 pm
Definitely. I wrote about this on my Kindle blog as well, and I can’t possibly see a legitimate reason for Amazon doing this. I can only guess that their lack of product development experience is what lent to the strategy. Amazon’s first mistake was that they let 6 months go by with people waiting for their Kindle 1′s to arrive. Sure, they upgraded them to a Kindle 2, but they kept their clients in the dark during this period. I wasn’t one of these people, so I am not personally scorned about this, but I can see how some of the earliest adopters would be. Releasing the DX 2-3 months after the 2 came out is silly, and I would have much preferred to have it. I know for certain Amazon had the DX planned before they released the 2, because it’s unrealistic to design, test, and manufacture a new product in only that short time frame. Thus, they actively did not tell their early adopters about the possibility.
I can understand that they likely did this for strategic purposes, but it certainly made a lot of people feel abandoned. Some people may say this is irrational and “this is what happens when you buy on the cutting edge.” Many of us waited an extra year for the Kindle to get ironed out, and were specifically waiting for the 2. How was anyone to know the DX was only 2 months beyond?
I think Amazon should create a limited-time trade-in program, so people can get the DX, and then sell the trade-ins as refurbished units, or cannibalized for parts to fix broken Kindles.
#2pidgeon92May 26, 2009, 5:17 pm
No regrets at all…. Between my husband and I we own three Kindles, 2 K1s and 1 K2. We use them all daily. The reality is that companies will always be releasing newer/different models of their products. No matter what you buy, there is always the possibility (or for me, the high probability) that it will be upgraded in the next six months.
My personal preference is for the smaller style, so I have no real interest in the DX. However, were I to want the larger screen vs. the smaller, there is still an excellent re-seller market out there for used Kindles. Craigslist is a great way to unload an unwanted Kindle, and so is the Buy/Sell/Trade board on KindleBoards.com.
#3cameronMay 27, 2009, 11:21 pm
I personally think that the K2 and DX serve different parts of the ebook market.
The more interesting issue is if this shows that Amazon does not know what it is doing as a consumer electronics company.
I would argue they have made more then a a few mistakes with the Kindle. The first being releasing the K1 with it’s god awful design. Now releasing the DX so soon after the K2.
Amazon should just partner with someone else to make the ebook reader, and run the ebook store for them.
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