“Amazon has confirmed it will not make a profit from sales of its latest Kindle tablet and e-reader devices,” Rory Cellan-Jones reports for The Beeb.
“‘We sell the hardware at our cost, so it is break-even on the hardware,’ chief executive Jeff Bezos told the BBC,” Cellan-Jones reports. “Mr Bezos made clear that the devices’ success would depend on how many books and other media files were subsequently bought by their owners. ‘We want to make money when people use our devices, not when people buy our devices,’ he told the BBC.”
Cellan-Jones reports, “By contrast Apple has indicated in the past that it makes much of its profits from device sales while running its iTunes store ‘slightly above” break-even.’ … Amazon is also attempting to use its hardware to stimulate sales of other physical products sold via its store. Access to its Lending Library facility will be tied to a £49 annual subscription to its Amazon Prime service. The offer includes rapid delivery, at no additional cost, of products from its warehouses.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Nothing new here. Bezos is giving away the razors in order to sell blades. We’re very interested to see how Apple prices “iPad mini” if and when it finally debuts.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “David E.” for the heads up.]
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