Amazon Drops Kindle Price To $299 – Will More People Buy It Now?

Editor’s Update Oct. 2009: The Amazon Kindle 2 is now available at a reduced price of $259. In addition, there is already a Kindle with U.S. and International Wireless that can be shipped to over 100 other countries. Priced at $279, the international Kindle version is available for preorder before shipping starts on Oct. 19, 2009. Visit Amazon.com for more details on the Kindle international version.

Amazon has trimmed $60 off the Kindle 2, bringing the price down to a more affordable $299. The announcement was made last Wednesday, July 8, just five months after the release of the second generation Kindle. With this new price, the Kindle is already more than $50 cheaper than the Sony Reader PRS-700, although the Kindle DX, which started shipping in June, stays priced at $489.

Speculations however, are rife as to why Amazon is resorting to this move. While an Amazon spokesperson revealed to the Wall Street Journal Wednesday that the company has been able to increase the volume of Kindles manufactured while decreasing production costs, the buzz on the net is, there could be more to the pricecut than meets the eye. Could it perhaps be possible that Amazon’s prized ebook reader is no longer selling as briskly as it had been during the first few months? As no actual sales figures have been released, many are inclined to think that there may be some truth to this theory.

Of course, there could be plenty of other reasons. With Sony, Google, Apple, and other lesser known players looking to usurp the Amazon Kindle as the leader in the ebook industry, it’s also likely that Amazon just wants the consumer market awash with Kindles, thereby firmly entrenching itself in the top spot before competition catches up.

Though still considered by most as a luxury in this recession economy, lowering the Kindle’s price to $299 does bring it within range of its competitors. The Sony Reader, which is unarguably the Kindle’s closest competitor, is currently priced at $280 for the PRS-505. Other alternatives that could be taking a slice of the pie –however small — are the Interead Cool-er Books ($249) and the Astak EZ Reader ($270).

Whether Amazon has indeed found a way of lowering manufacturing costs or is simply responding to a reduced demand, the ebook giant has certainly managed to address what has so far been a common consensus among both geeks and ordinary consumers: the Kindle is one steeply-priced gadget considering its limited functionality. It’s worth noting though, that despite this said drawback, book lovers took to it like moth to flame.

Now that Amazon has shaved $60 (or 17%) off its price tag, the big question still remains – Will more people now buy the Kindle?