Launch of Kindle DX worldwide by Amazon and some of the then competitors

We need to bear in mind that it was only in 2009 that Amazon launched the Kindle 2 and only in  2010 that they brought the Kindle DX onto the market, globally. The DX featured a nearly 10 inch screen that auto-rotated. I can hardly believe I’m writing this. It sounds like advertising copy for Amazon and I don’t intend that. I’m just trying to recapture for myself the mood of this particular market less than 3 years ago.

At that time, in 2010, there were other competitors.

There was Plastic Logic QUE proReader, made in the UK. This weighed almost half a kilo and was designed to handle files in major formats such as PDF. The 4 gigabyte version could handle about 35,000 documents and cost about £400. The 8 gigabyte version handled up to 75,000 documents and cost about £600.

There was something called a Skiff Reader. It featured a touch-sensitive screen and something called the largest e-ink display. There was Wi-fi connectivity and the link with the Skiff store selling the device and also the ability to draw on 3 gigabytes of memory of supplied documents through this link. It was only available in the US in 2010, though.

I wasn’t convinced at the time that devices such as these competed with the Kindle. Amazon’s market dominance in the book selling field paid off in those recent days and has been a continuing feature since then. I wouldn’t say all the competition has been knocked off the shelf, but Amazon is a powerful, some would say the powerful, player.