Kindle成功之道解密：簡單制勝
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????花旗集團（Citigroup）分析師馬克·馬哈尼表示，亞馬遜（Amazon）的Kindle閱讀器以及電子書銷售異常火爆，并且增長迅速，正逐漸成為推動公司總體增長的動力。
????亞馬遜到底賣出了多少臺Kindle，我們不得而知，因為公司拒絕公布具體數據。但在電子書閱讀器市場，Kindle獨占鰲頭，這一點卻毋庸置疑。對于一款推出時間僅三年半的產品來說，這已經是非常不錯的成績了。更何況，自面世以來，它便一直面臨著激烈的競爭，而且競爭愈演愈烈。 ????在昨天公布的報告中，馬哈尼在給出相關數據點后，多次使用了“哇”這個詞以表驚嘆。比如：到2012年，Kindle和電子書的銷售額預計將占亞馬遜總銷售額的10%。馬哈尼表示，到時候，Kindle與電子書將在亞馬遜占有舉足輕重的地位，也就是說，這兩項業務的收入，將成為推動亞馬遜發展的主要動力。 ????另外一處“哇”：亞馬遜電子書的銷量已經超過了紙質出版物。未來兩三年內，這一趨勢將蔓延到整個行業。 ????花旗集團的分析顯示，今年，亞馬遜將賣出約1，750萬臺Kindle設備，帶來的收入約為20億美元。而電子書的銷量將達到3.1億本，收入約為17億美元。馬哈尼估計，截至目前，Kindle今年的銷售量已經是去年同期的三倍。 ????銷量的增長主要得益于零售價格的下降。目前，最便宜的Kindle僅售114美元。這意味著，如果人們愿意購入iPad或者其他平板電腦的話，他們同樣不會介意購買一臺Kindle。毫無疑問，平板電腦價格下降之后將與Kindle展開更激烈的競爭。不過，到目前為止，它們還無力阻擋Kindle的發展。而同行業的競爭對手，比如邦諾（Barnes & Noble）的Nook設備，也無法對它構成威脅。 ????馬哈尼認為，Kindle大獲成功的部分原因在于：實惠的零售價格，“更出色的實用性”，亞馬遜推出的“簡單、浪漫，卻讓人難忘”的電視廣告，更好的零售分銷，以及亞馬遜提供的海量電子書資源。目前，亞馬遜提供的電子書約有一百萬本，而且數量還在不斷增加。 ????而對于Kindle的成功秘訣，亞馬遜首席執行官杰夫·貝佐斯的解釋更為簡潔。據報道，在剛剛結束的亞馬遜股東大會上，他說亞馬遜的Kindle策略其實“非常直接”。亞馬遜提供“最優秀的專業電子書閱讀器，最出色的電子書店，和最完美的人性化設計，我們讓閱讀隨心所欲。 ????他說：“對于Kindle，我們的想法非常簡單：顧客所需即是我們所想。” |
????Sales of the Kindle and of e-books are so good, and growing so fast, that they are now becoming a driver of Amazon's overall growth, says Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney. ????We can't know for sure how many Kindles Amazon (AMZN) is selling, because the company refuses to release figures. But there's no doubt that the Kindle is a juggernaut. Not bad for a product that was introduced only three and a half years ago, and which has faced stiff and growing competition ever since. ????In the note (pdf) he released yesterday, Mahaney repeated the word "wow" several times after giving up a datapoint. Such as: sales of the Kindle and eBooks will comprise 10% of Amazon's sales by 2012. That's when "critical mass" is achieved, Mahaney says, meaning that Kindle and e-book sales will have become a major driver of Amazon's growth. ????Another "wow": e-books have already surpassed printed books in terms of volume at Amazon. In another two or three years, that will be true industrywide. ????According to Citigroup's analysis, the company will sell 17.5 million of the devices this year, generating about $2 billion in revenue. And it will sell 310 million e-books, for about $1.7 billion in revenue. So far this year, Mahaney estimates, sales of the Kindle are running three times ahead of the same period last year. ????That's thanks largely to falling price points. The cheapest Kindle now sells for $114. That probably means that at least some people are happy to buy an iPad or other tablet computer as well as a Kindle. Tablets will doubtless present ever-growing competition as prices for them fall as well. But for now, they don't seem to be holding the Kindle back. Nor, so far, do competitors such as Barnes & Noble's Nook device. ????Some of the reasons for Kindle's success, according to Mahaney, are the low price points, "improved functionality," the "simple, sweet and memorable" TV spots Amazon has been running, better retail distribution, and ever-increasing numbers of titles Amazon makes available as e-books. They now number about 1 million. ????Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has a shorter explanation. At Amazon's shareholder meeting today, he reportedly called Amazon's Kindle strategy "very straightforward." Amazon has "the best purpose-built e-reader, the best e-bookstore, and the best ecosystem so you can read where you want to. ????"We're very simple-minded about this," he said. "It seems like what our customers would want." |
