The debut of the iPad a year ago was speculated to be the death knell for e-readers like the Kindle. But a new study by JP Morgan reports that the iPad is not actually a Kindle killer.
According to the study, 40 percent of iPad owners also own a Kindle, and another 23 percent of iPad owners plan on buying one in the next 12 months, which seems to defy the theory that the iPad’s introduction would put an end to the demand for Amazon’s less flashy and more functional e-reader.
The Kindle is, in fact, alive and well. This holiday season, the third-generation Kindle usurped Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to become Amazon’s best-selling product of all time, with roughly 9 million Kindles sold worldwide. The study shows that Amazon’s aggressive advertising has paid off. It reports that while the iPad’s brand awareness is 84 percent, the Kindle comes in close behind at 76 percent, while Barnes & Noble’s Nook e-reader trails far behind with 45 percent.
In reality, the iPad and the Kindle are two very different devices. The Kindle has found a niche with bookworms who use the device for convenience. While half the people surveyed read zero to ten books per year, 16 percent read more than 25 books per year. At the relatively low price of $139, these book lovers often opt for the Kindle over the $499 iPad, which touts its e-reader function as merely one of many of its features and is less convenient to carry around.
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