Amazon Launches New $79.99 Kindle

Amazon.com Inc. added a new product to the low-end of its Kindle line on Wednesday that will retail for $79.99. The new Kindle is thinner and lighter than its previous $79.99 e-reader, and includes new features such as a way to export notes and highlights from a book to email and built-in Bluetooth. Unlike the higher-end Kindles --Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Voyage and Kindle Oasis-- it does not have a built-in light, and is only WiFi -not 3G- capable. The announcement comes two months after Amazon reported strong hardware sales in its fiscal first quarter, led by Amazon Echo, Fire tablets and Kindles, and about nine months after the company discontinued the Fire smartphone after failing to grow sales. In April, Amazon launched a high-end Kindle called Kindle Oasis, a leather-bound e-reader that retails for $289.99. Shares of Amazon fell 0.2% to $714.56 in morning trade. They've risen 27% over the last three months and 64% over the last 12 months, vastly outperforming the S&P 500.