【英语科技】电子书阅读器市场进入价格战时代

Two of the leading makers of electronic-book readers, threatened by the success of Apple Inc.'s iPad, slashed prices in a move that could further drive e-readers into the mainstream.

Early Monday, Barnes & Noble Inc. cut the price of its Nook e-reader to $199 and introduced a Wi-Fi-only model for $149. Hours later, Amazon.com Inc. lowered the price of its Kindle e-reader to $189.

Both the Nook and Kindle previously sold for $259. While that was well below the iPad's starting price of $499, the e-readers lack the hit Apple product's color screen, ability to display video and websites, and thousands of specialized applications, or apps.

The moves aren't likely to end the gyrations in the nascent e-reader market. In coming weeks, both Amazon and Sony Corp. plan to unveil new versions of their devices, said people briefed on the matter. Analysts believe the new products also will emphasize lower prices.

Barnes & Noble said it dropped the Nook's price so it could reach a wider group of potential customers, especially ones who aren't hard-core readers. Amazon declined to comment beyond a press release that simply announced the price cut.

A price war for low-end e-readers could force Barnes & Noble and Amazon to rely more heavily on their profit from selling e-books. Under so-called agency sales agreements with many top publishers, e-bookstores keep about 30% of the sale price of e-books.

'Booksellers are actually making money off of e-books now. That was not the case when they built their business plans and set their original prices for these devices,' said James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research.

'Now they can go to the old razor-world model of giving away the razor for free and selling the blades. They are starting to give away the e-reader,' he said.

Largely due to price cuts, Mr. McQuivey estimates 6.6 million dedicated e-readers will be sold in the U.S. this year, bringing the total sold to over 10.4 million. He expects prices on some e-readers lacking wireless Internet access will hit $99 before the end of this year.

Associated Press亚马逊的Kindle 2苹果公司(Apple Inc.)的iPad大获成功，两家电子书阅读器的主要生产商感到了威胁，大幅降价，此举可能进一步推动电子阅读器进入主流市场。

周一早间，Barnes & Noble Inc.将其Nook电子阅读器的价格下调至199美元，并推出一款只有Wi-Fi功能的机型，价格为149美元。几小时后，亚马逊(Amazon.com Inc.)也将其Kindle电子阅读器的价格下调为189美元。

Nook和Kindle此前售价均为259美元，虽然远远低于iPad的起始价499美元，然而电子阅读器不具备这款苹果热门产品的彩色屏幕，不能播放视频、浏览网站，也不像iPad那样有数千个苹果专门的应用软件。

上述举措不太可能终结新兴的电子阅读器市场的这种盘旋势头。据知情人士透露，未来几周，亚马逊和索尼公司(Sony Corp.)都计划发布各自产品的新型号。分析师们认为，新产品仍将侧重低价。

Barnes & Noble称，降低Nook的价格是为了覆盖更广的潜在用户群体，尤其是那些并非书迷的用户。亚马逊拒绝置评，只是发布了一份宣布降价的新闻稿。

低端电子阅读器的价格战将迫使Barnes & Noble和亚马逊更多地依靠销售电子书来实现利润。按照与许多重要出版商签定的所谓代理销售协议，电子书店可从电子书销售价格中分得30%左右。

市场研究公司Forrester Research的分析师麦奎维(James McQuivey)说，书店现在实际上是在从电子书上赚钱。当他们为自己的产品制定商业计划、设定最初的价格时可不是这样。

他说，现在他们采用了免费送刀架再卖刀片的传统“剃须刀”行销模式，开始将电子阅读器拿来大放送了。

麦奎维预计美国今年的电子阅读器销量将达到660万台，主要是由于厂家的削价之举，从而令总销量超过1,040万台。他预计一些不带无线上网功能的电子阅读器今年年内将低至99美元。