03/21/2014 – by John Main – eBook News
If Amazon
a new project concerns – as now the Germany-launch of Amazon Publishing – trembles the book industry. But not everything the online retailer tackles, also succeeds. In the past, Amazon has verhoben among other paid-content models and in opening up new sales channels for the Kindle division, also an ambitious hardware project failed.
1 Kindle Active Content
Kindle Active Content
In January 2010, Amazon announced the opening of its own app store for the Kindle reader platform. Analogous to the marketplaces of Apple and Google should program third-party developer applications for the readers from Amazon and receive a percentage of the sale proceeds. Then the first apps came in August 2010 in the Kindle Store, three simple words games (then the current generation) and Kindle DX could be executed on the Kindle 2, Kindle 3.
In October 2010, followed by the first Apps by an external publisher, the renowned game developer Electronic Arts (Battlefield, Sims, …). There were also the first paid applications, with 3-4 U.S. dollars were the games at the level of applications in other app stores. The applications have been quite well accepted by the users, who demand and in particular but the willingness to pay for compared to smartphone and tablet apps stone age-style games was very low. As a result, dies the Kindle Active Content a slow death: New applications (there are about 200) are in extremely short supply, neither the first nor the second-generation Kindle Paperwhite is supported and the app store was never rolled out outside the United States. After all, is to assume that Amazon could incorporate learnings from the Active Content Store in its successful Kindle Fire marketplace.
2 Kindle Text To Speech
Already in 2007 published the first Kindle had speakers and a 3.5mm headphone jack, the beginning of 2009 rolled out and later internationalized second generation of devices had then Text To Speech as one of the key features on the data sheet . A computer voice read book text more rough than before, still feared publisher cannibalization of their audio book sales and exerted massive pressure on Amazon to. As a result, upgraded the online retailer a function to suit, with the publishers and authors text could disable To Speech for their works.
The rights owner disabled the function en masse, bringing the added value of the function is not much remained. By 2012 introduced the first Kindle Paperwhite, who brought no audio function more, the feature is then carried to the grave permanently. The storm of protest was made: The much quoted in this context, people with visual impairment, joggers and motorists attack he prefers to professionally recorded voice audio book, than to be read aloud text from a monotone computer voice
3. Amazon Kindle DX
Kindle DX
The 9.7 “Kindle DX ebook reader to stamp the flop, is certainly debatable, after all, the three generations of devices have been well sold in tens of thousands. A flop is the reader but not least in the eyes of Amazon, introduced him in May 2009 as an ideal reader for newspapers and large format documents.
at the start there was the Kindle Store dozens of newspapers and magazines as month subscriptions. On 19 January 2010, the Kindle DX has been internationalized, a week later, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the first iPad in front and thus sealed the fate of the Kindle DX. At the same price (the Kindle DX then cost 489 U.S. dollars, the iPad 499 U.S. dollars), the iPad proved to be a much better indicator for large-format content, were added the much larger uses. In July 2010 pushed Amazon Kindle DX still a generation (in gray instead of white and with Pearl e-ink display) after, since it is silent to this model. The iPad and its imitators have made large-format readers, at least for the mass market uninteresting and specialized companies such as iRex even driven into bankruptcy. In the Amazon Kindle DX is only sold under the counter, a new model seems excluded. More likely is that the Kindle Paperwhite successor with a slightly larger display (7-8 “) is sold.
4 Kindle in retail stores
Amazon as an online retailer went with a clear disadvantage for the Kindle business, because just the beginning, the largely new product genre of dedicated readers was extremely in need of explanation and also in view of the initial 399-dollar price tag everything other than a blind buy. So Thalia sold even in the last Christmas season still claims to be 80 percent of its Tolino Shine stationary. Kindle enthusiasts helped themselves first with privately agreed “demo sessions” for the mass that was of course nothing.
In long as Amazon has been trying for years on building a network of distributors, thereby blowing the company but strong headwind in the face. Most likely still took electronics chains the Kindle to the range, but placement and counseling were most to be desired. In 2012, it placed a further setbacks, as both the largest U.S. retail chain Wal-Mart and Target took the Kindle family from their shelves and online stores. Amazon is seen with its aggressive growth strategy and its unfassenden range not only in bookstores as a rival, which you do not even want to help in the penetration. With Amazon Source of dealers launched a new start-up three months ago, the mortar bookstores to win as a sales platform – the chances of success are modest. The more likely the construction of its own branch network is analogous to Apple and (in the U.S.) Microsoft. The holiday shopping season has already experimented with pop-up stores in shopping malls.
5 Kindle Publishing for Blogs
The theme of “monetization of online content” is as old as the Internet in recent years gained paid-content models of buoyancy. As a platform operator also Amazon would not want to stand in the margin and in 2009 led Kindle Publishing for Blogs one. Free of charge or for a monthly subscription fee on contributions subscribed blogs on the Amazon readers, 30 percent of the subscription revenue pours on Amazon. The program is available (the best-seller in the U.S. here) yet, but was never internationalized and expanded on blogs beyond what Amazon would have definitely done in case of success
Amazon. Trial and error as a success concept
listed failures are neither the only, nor will be the last. Thus, the publishing division of Amazon in the U.S. developed a long time ago not as desired, the Kindle Worlds have produced no fan-fiction bestseller and by Matchbook we have not heard for a long time. All this makes for Amazon but much less of a problem than it would be to accept from a German perspective.
For U.S. companies often fail belongs to the culture (the list of Apple-flop is also long), is important it to draw the right lessons from it. And at the end of the day, the courage to innovate for many technology companies will pay, too, while more conservative active competitors (from the book industry) with their Mee-Too-products left behind
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The article” Amazon: The top five Kindle-flops “on 21 March 2014 (Friday) at 12:53 clock by John Main wrote. John Main ( Xing / Twitter ) is the editor and publisher of lesen.net
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When discounter real start in the coming 14 Calendar week again an interesting offer by using the new Amazon Kindle Fire HD tablet PC, which it will be on sale at the price of 99.95 € in the period from 31.3.2014 to 05.04.2014, with 49 additional Payback points. 
For the launch of its new video-on-demand offerings Prime and Prime Instant Video service Amazon lowers prices for Kindle Fire Tablets HDX, HDX 8.9 Fire and Fire HD 8.9 by 20 percent. The 7-inch model with 16 GB will cost in the 4th to March ongoing action takes 229 EUR only 185,20 EUR. The price of the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 decreases from 379 to 303.20 euros. And the 2012 model Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is available for 159,20 Euro. The discount does not apply to the same products from other suppliers. 
The new Amazon Prime annual cost of 49 instead of 29 euros (Photo: Amazon)