At the moment there are an incredible number of manufacturers fighting it out in the emerging, but rapidly growing, e-book reader market. The strong competition is a clear indicator of the high growth level anticipated in this sector. This fierce competition is going to be good news for customers as manufacturers fall over themselves to improve specifications and offer better deals.

The list of major players who have e-book readers in various stages of development – and in some cases, ready for imminent release – is impressive. Asus, iRex, Sony, Plastic Logic, Barnes and Noble – not forgetting Microsoft and Apple – are all queuing up and fighting for their share of the market.

There’s little doubt about the current market leader. The Amazon Kindle reader has not only dominated the market, but has been pivotal in its development since it was launched in November 2007. Now into its second generation with the Kindle 2 and the large display Kindle DX, Amazon has a 60% share of the US e-book reader market. The Kindle reader is now their number one product and, on October 19 this year, after what seemed like a long wait, they started shipping the international Kindle 2 to over 100 countries worldwide. It’s a backhanded compliment to Amazon that every new e-book reader that is announced (and there are plenty, the list above is far from exhaustive) and which shows any promise whatsoever, is immediately dubbed the “Kindle Killer”. At the moment the Kindle is the standard which must first be matched, and then exceeded, in order to assure success.

Just in case anyone thinks that the Kindle’s current leadership position is bordering on unassailable, it’s probably worth remembering that Amazon were a late entrant to the market when the Kindle was launched. The original e-book reader is generally agreed to be the Franklin eBookMan which was launched in 1999 – a decade ago. The Sony PRS also launched before the Kindle’s 2007 release.

The Kindle was such an outstanding success for Amazon because of a number of factors. First of all, Amazon had a strong association with books, being among the largest online retailers. They also offered a huge choice of books to download – at the moment they have in excess of 300,000 titles on their Kindle store. The option of wireless connectivity – with no ongoing fees – was another big selling point.

Just as Amazon came from nowhere to secure the number one position, one of the other contenders could do exactly the same – and in the short term. Barnes and Noble, for example, have over one million titles which will be available for download to their new Nook e-book reader. They will also use the ePub format – which the majority of readers in development seem to be favoring. The Kindle mobi format is proprietary. Purchase a Kindle book – read it on your Kindle.

The Nook will also allow you to “lend” books to your friends and family for a couple of weeks. During this period, the borrower will be able to read it and the lender won’t have access to it on their Nook – just like lending a “proper” book actually. One important difference is that you will be certain to get it back.

The next generation Sony reader – the Sony Daily Edition – will be a large display format, like the Kindle DX, but unlike the DX it will have touch screen control options. It will also let users download e-books from participating public libraries on loan. Again – just like a proper book.

The other readers in development all have a number of individual features that may make them more appealing to users than the Kindle. Amazon have a fight on their hands – and it seems sure that they won’t relinquish their top position without a fight. Given their innovating role in the development of the market thus far, and considering the importance of the Kindle ebook reader to their business, it seems reasonable to expect them to have a few new ideas yet to be unleashed.

Considering the high level of activity amongst all of the key manufacturers, it looks like the e-book reader market is about to start expanding even more rapidly. Hopefully the fierce competition that seems about to unfold will drive prices low enough to take e-book readers out of the geek domain and into the mainstream personal mobile tech market.