Waterstone's to launch rival to Kindle

 

Richard Hall
Saturday 10 September 2011 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Waterstone's has announced it will challenge the dominance of Amazon's Kindle by launching its own electronic book reader next year.

The British chain of bookshops announced the plans yesterday, two years after the US bookseller Barnes & Noble launched its Nook device, with a design similar to the Kindle. The managing director of Waterstone's, James Daunt, said that he had been inspired by the success of the Nook, which made Barnes & Noble one of the few high-street retailers to challenge Amazon's dominance in an increasingly lucrative market.

"We in Waterstone's need to offer you a digital reader which is at least as good, and preferably substantially better, than that of our internet rival," Mr Daunt told BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme. "You will have a much better buying experience purchasing your books through us."

Mr Daunt was brought in to manage the company earlier this year in a shake-up which the new owner, the Russian investment billionaire, Alexander Mamut, hoped would revive the flagging fortunes of the retail chain.

Waterstone's, which has nearly 300 retail stores across Europe, was sold to A&NN Capital Fund Management for £53m in June.

Mr Daunt said the development of the e-reader was "well down the planning line", and that it would be launched in spring 2012.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in