Amazon Adds Global Kindle, Cuts U.S. Price

SEATTLE (TheStreet) -- Amazon.com (AMZN Quote) cut the price of its Kindle electronic-book reader by $40 to $259 and said Wednesday it has launched an international version.

When it debuted in 2007, the Kindle was priced at $399.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos told the Associated Press the company can now afford to reduce the price because it is making and selling more of the device. Bezos called the Kindle Amazon's best-selling product, but the company hasn't disclosed sales figures for the device.

Amazon said it will begin shipping in mid-October a Kindle device that will work in more than 100 countries and territories. The Kindle international edition will be sold for $279.

The current Kindle can wirelessly download content in the U.S. over Sprint's(S Quote) network, but outside the country a user must connect it to a computer with a USB cable to add content. With the international version, users will be able to wirelessly download content over AT&T's (T Quote) network around the world.

-- Reported by Joseph Woelfel in New York .

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