Kindle Paperwhite vs. Tolino: The Ongoing eReader Price War in Europe
With the launch of the Tolino alliance, Amazon gained a significant competitor in the eBook market last year. German book retail giants have joined forces to challenge the Seattle-based shipping company. This strategy worked particularly well in the past Christmas sales, leading to a substantial growth in the Tolino’s market share among eBook readers in a short period, securing the second spot behind Kindle devices.
Last year, Amazon responded with limited-time promotional sales of the Kindle Paperwhite, which, however, couldn’t really slow down the rise of the Tolino Shine. This year, the price war is in full swing again – but this time, the American shipping giant is in the attacking role. The Paperwhite has been priced at just 99 euros for a while now, offering not only an excellent price-performance ratio but also falling below the magic threshold of 100 euros.
Battle in the Mid-Price Segment
As a consequence (though possibly planned long in advance), the Shine was reduced to 88 euros, and the Tolino Vision 2 now costs only 129 euros (down from an interim 149 euros). Whether these price cuts will be sufficient to steal the wind from Amazon’s flagship sails this year as well remains to be seen.
A quick glance at two other European markets quickly reveals that the eCommerce giant has adjusted to new competitors. Not only in Germany is the Kindle Paperwhite now priced at only 99 euros, but prices have also been lowered in Italy and France.
The price is also dropping in Italy, in response to the new competitor
The Tolino alliance has, in collaboration with the regionally largest online bookseller IBS.it, recently entered the Italian market. There, the regular prices of 99 and 149 euros for the Shine and Vision 2 are still being announced. The subsequent promotional sale of the Paperwhite in Italy is clearly Amazon’s response to this new competitor.
Paperwhite vs. Regional Competitors
And France? The Tolino devices are (still) not available there, but you can now select French as a system language, making a launch in France a possibility. However, the language selection might simply be related to Tolino sales in Switzerland. In this regard, the French company Bookeen should not be forgotten, having also entered the lower price segment in France with recent new releases (100 euros for a 6-inch illuminated eReader). Seen this way, the Paperwhite promotion could also be interpreted as a reaction to this.
In other countries without regional competitors capable of generating enough momentum with affordable eReaders to snatch market share from Amazon, the Kindle prices remain unchanged. The Paperwhite continues to cost 129 euros in Spain, and in the UK, the price remains at 109 pounds. In the USA, the popular eBook reader still costs 139 US dollars (without ads).
In any case, the price actions show that Amazon is ready to respond flexibly and relatively quickly to regional competitors. The Paperwhite is a particularly suitable tool for this, as it remains one of the best reading devices on the market even after more than a year.
