Amazon hasn’t encountered such a problem in a long time. To be exact, the only time this happened was in 2008 with the shipping of the Kindle 1. But even then, Amazon was able to tell their customers when they would be able to deliver the units to their doorsteps exactly or when Kindles would be available again. It’s a different story with the Kindle 3. The Amazon site lists the Kindle 3 as “temporarily sold out” with no guarantee when it will come back around. Interested customers can still pre-order though, and reservations are prioritized on a first come, first served basis. Those who have already ordered the Kindle are told they will receive an email with the estimated delivery date. It seems most customers haven’t received such email, though.
In any case, this appears to be Amazon’s delivery schedule of the Kindle 3 (this is part of Amazon’s e-mail reply to Elizabeth, which she posted on Amazon’s Kindle Community Forum :
Orders placed before 8 p.m. Pacific Time on August 1st will still ship by the August 27th release date.
Orders placed before 10 p.m. Pacific Time on August 5th will ship on or before September 4th.
Orders placed before 12 p.m. Pacific Time on August 12th will ship on or before September 8th.
Orders placed after 12 p.m. Pacific Time on August 12th will ship on or before September 12th.
As the company notes, it’s the strong customer demand that’s causing Amazon to run out of Kindle 3Gs and Kindle WiFis. But why doesn’t have Amazon enough supply to meet the deluge of Kindle 3 orders?
Kindle 3 Still Out of Stock: Amazon Not Able to Keep Up With the Demand?
A report from Taipei Times says its not really Amazon’s fault why they are not able to keep up with demand. It’s the company that’s making the screens – that is PVI -- that’s not able to supply the pearl eInk screens on time. So why can’t PVI keep up with the demand?
1. PVI is the only company that’s making eInk Pearl screens.
2. Amazon is not its only customer. PVI also supplies eInk screens to other eReaders, and there’s also a demand for the new eInk Pearl screen display from other eReader makers.
3. PVI is also busy with other endeavors. It has just launched a touch capacitive screen and another that is electromagnetic. It is also making colored eInk screens for Hanvon.
4. The Kindle 3 has two models: the Kindle 3G and the Kindle WiFi. Both use the new eInk Pearl screen.
5. PVI doesn’t have the manufacturing capacity to keep up with the demand.
Kindle 3 Temporarily Sold Out: eReaders are Dead?
During a meeting with investors, PVI CEO Scott Liu expressed his satisfaction about the growth of eReader sales and the response to the new Kindle.
Amazon’s new Kindle is outfitted with our new-generation Pearl e-paper display and supply could become tight as pre-sales are excellent,” company chairman Scott Liu told investors.
According to DigiTimes, eInk estimates more than 10 million eReaders will be sold by the end of 2010. In 2011, this will double to 20 million.
If there’s anything that the Kindle 3 sold out shows, it’s that eReaders are far from dead.
Kindle 3 and Kindle WiFi are quite likely to run into supply problems by November –
1. Kindle 3 and Kindle WiFi use the same screen. Nook 2 and 1 or 2 of the new Sony Readers will probably use the same screen.
2. A ton more people will be buying Kindle 3 and Kindle WiFi as Christmas Gifts since they are priced much lower ($189 and $139).
3. The only company making eInk Pearl screens is PVI. It’s not going to scale up its facilities (which have to run all year around) just for the Christmas madness. Besides its partner LG Display is having major problems making enough iPhone 4 screens and enough iPad screens (DigiTimes had reports about it) so PVI can’t exactly ask LG Display to lend it production facilities.
The screen is a very big deal as it comes really close to paper and the screen contrast makes every other eReader screen seem ancient. The fact that there’s just 1 company making the eInk Pearl screen but lots of eReader companies are asking for it makes it highly likely we’ll see shortages.
When users start getting their Kindle 3s and Kindle WiFis at the end of August a lot of user reviews will go up and lots of people will see the Kindle 3 in person. The eInk Pearl screen is excellent and the Kindle 3 is pretty amazing – We’re likely to see a lot more orders once people get to actually see and play with the Kindle 3.
If you’re pretty sure you want to get a Kindle 3 it’s best to avoid the likely rush at the end of August and buy the Kindle 3 now.
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