WHS undercuts Waterstone's on new Sony Readers
28.08.09 Victoria Gallagher - The Bookseller

W H Smith looks like it is ready to spark an e-reader price war after offering the two new Sony e-readers at prices less than those being charged by Waterstone's.
Waterstone's will be selling the new Sony Reader - Touch for £249.99, however the WHS website is selling it for £219. With the Sony Reader - Pocket Waterstone's is taking pre-orders for £179.99 whereas WHS is offering it at £159.

A WHS spokesperson said: "In addition to our offer of 25% off all e-books, we are selling the Readers at the competitive price of £219 for the Reader Touch and £159 for the Reader Pocket. All of the Readers are delivered free of charge by courier to UK addresses. We are encouraged by the level of customer interest."Waterstone's announced earlier this week that it would be selling Sony's new products exclusively until one week after its launch date on 10th September. With each pre-order of one of the new readers Waterstone's will also offer a free e-book copy of the new Dan Brown novel. WHS will be releasing the new readers on 17th September when Waterstone's exclusive deal comes to an end.