E-book readers and e-books have been hot topics for some time now. In 2009 the e-book reader market really exploded, prompted in large part by the release of the Amazon Kindle 2.0 in February of that year. Amazon followed up with the large format Kindle DX in the summer of 2009 and, in the second half of the year, it seemed that electronics manufacturers were queuing up to launch their own e-book readers and get a share of the hot new market. The fact that practically every new reader which displayed any potential was immediately christened the “Kindle Killer” should give some idea of just how influential Amazon was to the market’s development. The Kindle reader was, without a doubt, the industry standard that required to be matched and subsequently beaten.

However, there was very little evidence of a reader which was going to knock the Kindle off its throne. It was only with the launch of Apple’s iPad – a significantly different type of device – that the Kindle’s dominance was in any way threatened. Even then, the forecast of the Kindle’s death as consumers turned en masse to the iPad doesn’t seem to be in evidence. Shortly after the release of the upgraded third generation Kindle in August 2010 Amazon, for the umpteenth time it seems, had sold out of the devices and prospective customers faced a wait of several weeks before their new readers could be shipped.

There can’t be much doubt that the Kindle’s high sales figures can, to some extent, be explained by the fact that the latest upgrades were also accompanied by a price reduction. Amazon’s new Wi-Fi only Kindle was priced at just $ 139. If you remember that the Kindle 2.0 launch price was $ 359 when it launched in February of 2009, that’s a major price cut. It moves the Kindle – and e-book readers in general – much closer to the sub $ 100 impulse buying zone for personal electronic devices. Whether this was prompted by the appearance of the iPad on the scene is probably a moot point. It seems clear that the price reduction would have taken place anyway, but there is still plenty of room for further downward price movement – quite possibly in the not too distant future.

However, whilst Amazon and Apple may be enjoying a good deal of success, the same cannot be said for other e-book reader manufacturers. A number of planned e-book readers have either been delayed or completely cancelled. The Plastic Logic Que reader, for example, is pretty well dead in the water. Irex, a previously well established Dutch company, went bankrupt following disappointing US sales figures for their Irex reader. The Skiff reader, from Sprint and Hearst has been cancelled.

Could we be heading towards a strongly polarised market in which Amazon dominate the low cost “pure” e-book reader sector and Apple clean up in the pricier tablet computer that also serves as an e-book reader market? The difference in price between the Kindle and the entry level iPad is really quite large. Is there room between the two devices, in terms of both price and specification levels, for other players to enter the market?

Recently Amazon announced that sales figures for Kindle books are outstripping the sales of hard cover books. It seems highly probable that e-book sales will catch up with and eventually overtake paperback sales – and probably in the not too distant future. It seems certain that e-books are going to be an important part in the future of reading, but just what type of device will you use to read them on?