An Early Holiday Gift: Amazon Slashes Kindle Price

With less than two months to go before the annual "Black Friday" holiday shopping kickoff, top e-tailer Amazon has reduced the price of its e-reader Kindle -- and book lovers should rejoice.

The Kindle, which initially debuted near $400, is now selling for $259 and is even eligible for free shipping. Amazon had cut the price before the summer to $299.

In a press statement released October 7, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said he was happy to be able to lower the electronic reader's price point as it's the "most wished for" and "bestselling product" from his company.

The company also announced an additional offering to its e-reader line, which also features the higher-end Kindle DX.

The newest product is a Kindle that comes with U.S. and international wireless capability. That means readers can download content in over 100 countries. Prior to this feature, readers could only access content available wirelessly in the U.S. The new Kindle costs $279 and will be available on October 19.

Kindle users now have access to more than 350,000 books at the Kindle Store, including 104 of 112 New York Times Best Sellers. Amazon said more than 75,000 books have been added to the store in just the last five months.

Industry pundits have repeatedly stated that in order for e-readers to gain strong user base, the price points of the devices have to become more accessible to the mid-tier income market. In the past, Bezos had indicated he would be willing to possibly lower the Kindle price using a subscription program that would tie readers to an annual plan, very much like today's smartphone deals with wireless carriers.

The fact that Amazon dropped the price, even though Bezos had consistently stated building material costs prohibited such a move, illustrates that vendors realize price point is crucial to market adoption and sales domination.

The price plunge comes just weeks after new e-reader competitor IREX Technologies announced it would be launching can e-reader offering with Barnes & Noble and retailer Best Buy.

Yes, Virginia, there very well could be a Santa Claus, and market competition seems to be the reading fanatic's best friend these days.

Photo courtesy of Amazon