At the moment there are an incredible number of manufacturers fighting it out in the emerging, but rapidly growing, e-book reader market. The competition level is a clear signal that high growth is predicted in this sector. And this strong competition is

There is an impressive list of major players who all have e-book readers in various development stages of – and in some cases, about to be imminently released. Sony, Barnes and Noble, Plastic Logic, Asus, iRex, – and don’t forget Apple and Microsoft (as if) – are all lined up and fighting for their share of the market.

There’s little doubt about the current market leader. The Amazon Kindle reader has not only dominated the market, but has been pivotal in its development since it was launched in November 2007. Now into its second iteration with the Kindle 2 and the large screen Kindle DX, Amazon has secured a 60% share of the American e-book reader market. The Kindle reader is now their number one product and, on October’ this year, after what seemed like a long wait, they started shipping the international Kindle 2 to over 100 countries worldwide. When you think about it, iIt’s a backhanded compliment to Amazon that every new e-book reader in development (and theres no shortage of these, the list above is hardly exhaustive) and which shows any promise whatsoever, is immediately dubbed the “Kindle Killer”. Right now, the Kindle is setting the benchmark which must be achieved, and then bettered, in order to achieve success.

Just in case anyone thinks that the Kindle’s current leadership position is bordering on unassailable, it’s probably worth remembering that Amazon were a late entrant to the market when the Kindle was launched. The original e-book reader is generally agreed to be the Franklin eBookMan which was launched in’99 – a decade ago. The Sony PRS was also available prior to the Kindle’s 2007 launch.

The success of the Kindle was due to a number of different factors. In the first place, Amazon had a strong link with books, being one of the largest sellers online. They also had a huge selection of books available for download – at the moment they have over of 300,000 titles (and growing in number every day) on their Kindle store. The wireless connectivity feature – with no ongoing fees – was one more huge selling point.

However, in exactly the same way that Amazon came from nowhere to grab the top slot, any one of the other contenders could do the same – and faster than you might imagine. Barnes and Noble, for example, have more than one million titles available for their new Nook e-book reader. They also intend to use the ePub format – which most of the readers presntly under development seem to be going for. The Kindle e-book format is proprietary. Purchase a Kindle book – read it on your Kindle (or maybe on your iPhone – but certainly not on any other reader).

You can even “lend” books to your friends and family for a fortnight using your Nook. During this “loan period”, the person who borrowed it will be able to read it and the lender won’t be able to access it using their Nook – just like lending a “proper” book when you think about it. The main difference is that (unlike a proper book) you will be sure of getting it back.

The Sony Daily Edition – Sony’s next generation reader – will be a large display format, just like the Kindle DX. Unlike the DX it will feature touch screen controls. It will even permit users to “borrow” e-books from participating public libraries. Again – just the same as a real book.

The other readers in development generally incorporate features that may well make them more appealing than the Kindle. Amazon certainly have a fight on their hands – and it seems certain that they won’t give up their number one position without a fight. Given their innovating role in the development of the market thus far, and considering the importance of the Kindle ebook reader to their business, it seems reasonable to expect them to have a few new ideas yet to be unleashed.

At the end of the day, given the level of activity amongst all of the various manufacturers, it looks as if the e-book reader market is about to start growing even faster. Hopefully the rampant competition that seems about to be unleashed will force prices downwards and take e-book readers out of the high tech domain and into mainstream personal mobile tech market.

Checkout the Amazon Kindle eBook Reader and find out how you can get free books for your Amazon Kindle.

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