By Hannah Johnson
Barnes & Noble has a new Nook e-reader, the Nook Wi-Fi. Priced competitively at $149, the Nook Wi-Fi does not have 3G access, but still includes the eInk screen and color touch screen for navigation. B&N also announced that it will lower the price of the 3G Nook to $199.
The Kobo eReader recently became available on June 17 through Indigo in Canada and Borders in the US, and is also priced at $149. To customers who are considering an e-reader purchase, this lower price point is much more appealing than the $249 Amazon Kindle. It could ultimately be the deciding factor in which e-reader can gain more customers in the near future.
And if history is any indication of Amazon’s pricing strategy, there might be a price drop in store for the Kindle as well. Could this race to the bottom be the demise of the e-reader? Or will it be a boon for customers looking to enter the world of e-books?