Amazon could inflate Kindle figures through Prime

Amazon could soon give away free Kindles to all its most loyal customers, a rumor hints today. After it began a promo that let existing Kindle book buyers keep the Kindle reader after a refund, the online store is now seen devising a plan that will give every Amazon Prime subscriber a free Kindle. It's not known if there would be any conditions attached to the deal.

The primary obstacle is believed by TechCrunch to be the sustainability of the plan. While Amazon Prime costs $79 per year and could minimize the impact of the deal by encouraging frequent purchases, the cost to make the $259 Kindle is currently too high to make such a deal practical. The service primarily offers free two-day shipping regardless of the cost or frequency of items and itself is largely compensated by the sheer number of purchases made by those who value the sped-up shipping.

Instituting such a giveaway would help increase the uptake of Amazon Prime but would also help artificially inflate the number of influential Kindle owners. Amazon faces threats not only from the now widely available Nook but from the iPad, which in the current market outclasses the Kindle DX and risks cannibalizing some of those who would have otherwise bought the cheaper but more limited 6-inch Kindle.

By Electronista Staff