Amazon will remember 2009 as being a very good year for them. A great deal of the credit for that must go to the Kindle e-book reader. The first Kindle debuted in November of 2007 when it sold out in under six hours. No new stock was available until April of the following year.

The Kindle 2 was released in February of 2009 and it incorporated a number of improvements over the first model. Amazon followed up with the large display Kindle DX just a few months later in June. Amazon now had a Kindle “family” and, assisted by a huge amount of free publicity from bestselling authors such as Stephen King, partnerships with educational establishments and open discussion by political entities, the Kindle very rapidly became almost synonymous with e-book readers.

Of course, Amazon’s competitors were also checking out the nascent e-book reader market and wondering how to get their share. Currently, there is a very impressive list of manufacturers who all have their own e-book readers in development. Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Barnes and Noble and Asus are just a sample of the competition lining up against Amazon.

Any e-book reader which displays potential is instantly dubbed the “Kindle Killer”. The technical features of each new reader are scrutinised and reported upon, especially when it incorporates a feature lacking from the current Kindle – the touch screen control of the Sony Daily Edition reader for example.

However, whilst the technical aspects of e-book readers are certainly important, they are not the be all and end all. Some of the key factors in the Kindle’s success to date were the large choice of books on Amazon’s website, the freedom to download books in under a minute wirelessly – without the need for an internet connection and without monthly fees – and Amazon’s highly trusted brand name.

A number of the new readers will feature wireless connectivity. The Barnes and Noble Nook reader will allow users to choose from a selection of over 1,000,000 books on the company’s website. However, the one common theme that seems to be emerging among the e-book readers in development is the format of the e-books.

Most of the new readers seem to be lining up behind the ePub format. The Kindle, on the other hand, uses a proprietary format which effectively means that Kindle books can only be read on the Kindle reader.

Right now, considering that the Kindle is pretty much the only show in town, that’s not too much of a problem. However, in the near future, the ability to lend e-books to friends and family may become an important feature.

In a very short space of time, the Kindle has become Amazon’s bestselling product – bar none. So Amazon won’t surrender their market leadership role without a struggle. Maybe next year will see the launch of the Kindle 4. It will almost certainly include a number of technical improvements – but could it be that Amazon might also adopt the ePub format, or perhaps provide some type of translation service?

Find out more about the Amazon Kindle reader and learn how you can save money by getting free Kindle ebooks direct from Amazon’s website.