Amazon targets real readers

By Geoffrey A. Fowler


Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said the company's strategy for competing with Apple Inc.'s iPad was to keep its own Kindle e-reader focused on reading. He also said a reflective color screen for the Kindle e-reader was a ways off.

A ways off?

Speaking at the company's annual shareholders meeting Tuesday in Seattle, Mr. Bezos said Amazon's approach to digital reading was focused on two fronts: devices and being an e-book retailer. For the device business, he said Amazon would focus on building a Kindle that appealed to serious readers, as opposed to devices like the iPad that try to serve several different purposes.


"There are always ways to do the job better if you are willing to focus in on one arena," Mr. Bezos said. He also conceded that "90% of households are not serious reading households."

10% of households are serious readers.

The comments were the CEO's first about the Kindle strategy in about six months, during which the landscape for e-book readers and e-bookstores has changed with the introduction of the iPad and a shift in the system for pricing e-books.