Chicago (IL) – Sony is set to announce two new eBook Readers tomorrow in an apparent move to compete more aggressively with Amazon. The company will also reduce prices for eBooks offered for the Reader devices, according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal.
The two new readers, called PRS-300 and PRS-600, will be sold for $199 and $299 and offer a 5” and a 6” display, respectively. The PRS-300 undercuts the price of every other eBook reader device on the market today and the more expensive version has a touch screen, can also be used as MP3 players and integrates a memory card slot to increase the available storage space.
Amazon currently sells the Kindle 2 for $299 and the Kindle DX for $489. Sony’s fancy PRS-700 Reader has been discontinued.
The WSJ also reported that Sony will be selling eBook bestsellers for $9.99, down from the previous $11.99.
Amazon dominates the eBook market, even if it recently struggled with some poor decisions, such as the remote deletion of eBooks from Kindle devices as well as Kindle 2 screens that were damaged by an optional protective cover for the device. However, it is clear that the competition is heating up and others are aiming for a greater share of the eBook market.
Barnes & Noble recently announced its upcoming eBook store with more than 700,000 titles, including $9.99 bestsellers. Barnes & Noble said that it will be tailoring its store around the Plastic Logic Reader device.
