Now that the iPad is available through Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and most Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) stores, Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) needs more visibility for its Kindle.
After all, Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) is stocking display models of its nascent Nook e-book reader at its namesake superstores. Sony's (NYSE: SNE) devices have been at Best Buy for quite a while, too.
Where does this leave the Kindle? According to tech blog Engadget, Amazon is targeting Target (NYSE: TGT) as the reader's first bricks-and-mortar distributor. The site has a snapshot of a Kindle listed on the retailer's inventory PDA system, with Engadget pegging April 25 as the debut date.
A move like this would make sense. Target has turned to Amazon for online fulfillment for years, even if that partnership will presumably end next year. As a discounter, Target may not be the ideal landing spot for a $259 dedicated e-reader, but its cheap-chic mystique still packs its stores with youthful shoppers and fashion-forward penny-pinchers who may warm up to the Kindle.
It's probably not a coincidence that the launch is supposedly slated for a Sunday, timed perfectly for promotions in Target's weekly newspaper circular.
Will Kindles sell briskly at the local Target? I doubt it. Cost-conscious shoppers know that Amazon doesn't automatically tack on sales tax in most states, so it would probably be cheaper to buy directly through Amazon.com.
Still, Amazon can't rest on its laurels. Even though the company has sold "millions" of Kindles through its site since launching the device, Apple -- along with the makers of other tablet computers on the way this year -- is finally giving Amazon a run for its money.
Will Kindles sell outside Amazon.com? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.
