Today Amazon hosted a surprise hardware event in Seattle where they unveiled new products for 2017, including several new Echo products and a new Fire TV.
But sadly no new Kindle was announced, so that pretty much crushes any hope of a new Kindle getting released this year.
Amazon has gone all in on Alexa and their Echo devices.
Meanwhile the Kindle is old news as they don’t seem to care much about developing new Kindle ereaders anymore, and even when they do it’s just the same device in a different shell.
Among the new products unveiled is an Echo Spot similar to the Echo Show but with a smaller 2.5″ screen. There’s also a new 2nd gen Echo for $99, an Echo Plus, Echo Buttons, and an Echo Connect speaker.
So now they offer a bunch of different Echos in all shapes and sizes, along with three different Fire tablet sizes, and yet the Kindle line gets neglected once again as we’re left with the same four 6-inch Kindles as last year, three of which have the exact same screen.
Great. Just great.
It’s still not impossible for a new Kindle to get released by the end of November, but the odds just dropped to about a million to one. If Amazon didn’t announce a new Kindle today at their dedicated hardware event, then it’s most likely not going to happen at all, especially considering some of the new products aren’t even going to be available until mid-December. Very disappointing…
The way I see it, there’s only two ways a new Kindle could possibly get released after this. Either it’s so innovative and unique that it deserves its own dedicated press event (this would be extremely unlikely given the current state of ereaders), or it’s so boring and unoriginal that it doesn’t deserve any event at all.
via: The Verge
How disappointing. I was hoping that Amazon would step up and give us a larger Kindle but if they are not it just confirms to me that I made the right decision to switch over to Kobo and their 7.8 Aura One. Boo Amazon.
Something odd is going on that may have thrown the timing of this event off schedule. A “surprise” hardware event is kind of odd, and it may have something to do with Amazon’s fight with Google over their decision to block YouTube from the Echo Show.
I wonder if they will ever bring Echo to us poor cousins in Canada.
Sometimes I think they won’t release a Kindle this year, but then I remind myself that it’s their 10th anniversary so they must. I simply can’t imagine them not doing so. We’re still two months away.
Meanwhile Kobo is probably already working on the Aura One second edition.
Probably not for another year, but what would they call it? The name wasn’t very well thought out for a 2nd gen model. The Kobo Aura One second edition sounds kind of ridiculous, so does the Kobo Aura One 2 and Kobo Aura Two, especially with the other Kobo Aura Edition 2 out there. The names are going to start getting really confusing as this rate. And Kobo Aura One is such an odd name when you think about it. Like what does the “One” even mean? It wasn’t the 1st Kobo Aura, it’s not the only one they sell, and one has nothing to do with being larger. I don’t get it…
It basically means “The Chosen ONE” As portrayed in the movie the Matrix.
But yes pretty ridiculous name.
My guess is they will come out with a completely new name for the next premium device.
I still expect they will release a new Kindle or 3 this year…remember the new Fire table t came out recently without fanfare…could have been released at this event.
Amazon was fighting against Google and Apple for control of the living room and Voice control with major market implications. The ebook battle has been, for the most part, won already. No fanfare needed.
True. At first I was skeptical because of the two different product lines with the Echos and Fire TV being announced at once, so why wouldn’t they include a new Kindle as well if they had one, but those all have Alexa and Kindles don’t so I guess that could be a reason to not include it in the announcement.
If Kobo would step up their game it would force Amazon to innovate.
I really wish their was strong competition in this market.
At least Kobo is still around, so there is at least a decent alternative to Kindles.
It is too bad that B&N and Sony exited this market.
Plus, we still have a 10th anniversary of the Kindle coming up soon, and the reports from E-ink saying their stock will be going up later this year because of a major sale to Amazon. Also: constant supply issues with the Oasis.
It’s actually difficult for me to believe there won’t be new Kindle this year.
(Previous post was supposed to be a reply to Nathan.)
Fire tablets and Alexa have competition, Kindle e-ink readers do not.
Microeconomics 101. Were YOU Amazon, where would you place *your* R&D dollars? Moreover, what’s probably a *bigger* deal is that Amazon’s ebook sales enjoy an even bigger monopoly as their competitors’ stores struggle and owners of other brands buy their ebooks from Amazon. Content is where Amazon makes most of its money in the space.
No need to refresh their line this year or, probably, next year.
I find it very interesting that all of the new WiFi only Oasis models are currently out of stock and only the black $359.99 3G model With Special Offers is currently available. They also seem to be dumping the existing inventory of “Refurbished” Wifi and 3G Oasis models at $229.99 and $269.99 respectively. Is it possible that they are clearing the decks for the new, updated 10th Anniversary model?
For a year and a half I’ve been holding off on pulling the trigger on the Oasis due to the many reviews calling out sketchy battery performance and unreliable OS operation i.e. quality control issues. My Kindle Keyboard, original Paperwhite and original Fire are still chugging along just fine, so I have the luxury of sitting it out until all the dust settles.
I anticipate there will be a 10th Anniversary of the Kindle announcement in November with a new and improved Kindle. I’m hoping for a 7.8″ Oasis with a real 30 hour battery and a reasonable price tag. I guess we’ll see…
Why this hang up for a new Kindle? The best is out there now Aura One. It seems if Amazon renames the Aura One and restricted books from Amazon everyone would rave about it. The Apple factor all over again.
Only thing Kindle as done is destroyed readers from the likes of Sony and B&N. Amazon know they can live with Kobo so don’t need to make the effort to innovate or under cut on price.
What hurts Kobo with Aura One et al is the reputation Kobo has for consumer service.
Any time I check consumer (not industry) reviews of Kobo e-readers I see lots of complaints to the end of “this firmware update completely wrecked things” or “kobo readers die soon after the warranty expires.”
The last hard numbers I saw on this was a 2015 survey by tech daily: 84% of kindle users reported no faults in five years, vs. 75% of kobo users; moreover, 19% of kobo users reported a major fault within a year.
Ups, seems Amazon in the end really unveiled a new, innovative Kindle.
Finally a waterproof one, with audible!