Kindle Mobile Learning Initiative announcement postponed

PaidContent reports that the Kindle Mobile Learning Initiative that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Amazon's Jeff Bezos were supposed to announce today was postponed. The State Department says that the reason is Clinton's schedule at the G-20 Mexico summit and the Rio+20 conference later this week. However, the State Department knew about those events for many months and scheduled the Kindle press conference anyway, so it's likely that there's another reason for the postponement. 

The National Federation for the Blind sent a letter to Secretary Clinton on June 18th that said that “any agreement by the United States to procure inaccessible Kindle, or other, e-readers is a violation of the law, including Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.” That could be a reason for the decision to postpone the event.

Hillary Clinton, Jeff Bezos to announce Kindle Mobile Learning Initiative at State Department next Wednesday

PaidContent reports that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Amazon's Jeff Bezos will jointly announce the launch of the Kindle Mobile Learning Initiative on Wednesday, June 20th at 11 a.m. Eastern time at the State Department in Washington, DC. From the State Department's press release: "This public-private partnership with Amazon.com and the U.S. government will create a global e-reader program that introduces aspects of U.S. society and culture directly to young people, students, and international audiences in new ways and expands English language learning opportunities worldwide."

That explains the no-bid contract for eReaders and content that the State Department is proposing to give to Amazon. The first year of the contract calls for purchases of 2,500 Kindles and multiple copies of 50 titles for a total of $2.29 million. The contract would be renewable on a year-to-year basis for four more years, for a maximum cost of $16.5 million with up to 7,000 additional Kindles purchased per year. The State Department has already purchased 6,000 Kindles under a separate contract.

PaidContent editor Laura Hazard Owen spoke with State Department spokesperson Phillipe Reines, who told her that even though a press conference and announcement are scheduled for Wednesday, there's "still no deal" with Amazon for the eReaders and content. Reines reminded Owen that the State Department already has 6,000 Kindles. However, as Owen puts it, that seems like a distinction without a difference. Why would the State Department schedule a press event with Amazon if the contract for the eReaders and content isn't already a done deal?

Amazon's Kindle and the numbers game

Amazon has never revealed actual Kindle or eBook sales numbers, either in dollars or units. They've always stated the numbers in terms of a percentage of something else for which there are no actual numbers: Sales compared to a previous quarter or year, sales compared to hardcover books, etc.

There's a movement to try to pressure Amazon to release the actual numbers. However, there's no legal obligation on the company's part to release them, and Jeff Bezos has said that he won't do so for competitive reasons. When I was an industry analyst, I tried to get companies such as Motorola and Cisco to release installed base and/or shipment numbers for products sold into the IPTV (Intermet Protocol Television) market, and they always refused, even though they were clients of the company I was working for.

Companies have a right to withhold their sales figures for competitive reasons, but I've found that the real reason usually is that they'd be embarrassed if the numbers were released. For example, I was unable to get Microsoft to release sales numbers for its Mediaroom IPTV platform, on the basis that they didn't have permission from their customers. Apparently, not a single customer anywhere in the world was willing to release its numbers. Then, miraculously, shortly before I left, Microsoft began releasing detailed numbers. Why? Did all their customers suddenly mutually agree to start talking? In my opinion, the real reason was that Microsoft was afraid that investors would learn that they were spending an enormous amount of money on a business that was getting very little traction. Once their installed base reached a respectable level, they were happy to talk numbers.

I'm not going to state that the reason that Amazon refuses to release actual Kindle numbers is that they're disappointing when looked at objectively, since I have no evidence one way or another. However, companies with hot-selling products usually are glad to crow about their numbers. I leave the conclusion to you.