Amazon to Sell the Kindle Reader at a Lower Price, but With Advertising Added

By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER
NYT

SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon is shaving another $25 off the price of its Kindle e-reader, this time with the help of advertisers.

The newest Kindle is $114. Amazon will sell its e-book reader at the lower price by showing ads as screen savers and at the bottom of the home screen, and by selling special offers, similar to Groupon and other daily deal sites.

The ads are the latest step in Amazon’s transition from e-commerce retailer to full-fledged digital media company. By selling ads that will show up next to digital content, Amazon is laying further groundwork that could enable it to someday sell tablet computers that would compete with Apple and Google Android tablets.

Amazon is also showing how far it is willing to go to remain a front-runner in the e-reader price wars. The new Kindle is $35 less than Barnes & Noble’s least expensive Nook and $66 less than Sony’s least expensive Reader. It is also several hundred dollars cheaper than an Apple iPad.

(More here.)