When the Amazon management team get together to review the company’s performance in 2009, they will have good reason to feel content – but not smug. It’s been a very good year for the internet retail giant – and a lot of the credit must go to the Amazon Kindle e-book reader.

The launch of the Kindle 2 took place in February 2009 and it was widely perceived to be a big step forward for e-book readers in general and the Kindle in particular. Amazon had obviously paid close attention to the customer feedback regarding the original Kindle – released in 2007 – and had incorporated a number of improvements. Increased storage capacity, longer battery life and faster page turns were just some of the enhancements. It looked a lot nicer too.

The launch of the Kindle 2 was marked by the publication of a special novella – “Ur” – by bestselling novelist Stephen King. Amid a blaze of publicity, the Kindle 2 quickly became a “must have” gadget.

Amazon followed up, just a few months later in June, with the release of the Kindle DX. The large DX screen made it ideal for readers of magazines, newspapers and academic textbooks. Surprisingly, it was the traditional world of academic publishing which generated a lot of publicity for the new DX.

Academics very quickly realised the potential benefits offered by the Kindle. It would be very much easier to keep academic texts current and up to date and interactive education possibilities – such as pop quizzes and electronic testing – would be available. Avoiding the use of paper based books would not only save money but would reduce the environmental impact of colleges – two important aspects for such institutions in our present day climate.

In addition to entering into partnerships with a number of universities and colleges, Amazon profited from much publicity generated by political entities such as the New Democratic Leadership Council (who number Hilary Clinton among their members) and Arnold Schwarzenegger in his role as Governor of the State of California. Both of these political bodies held forth on the educational and fiscal benefits which could be achieved by the use of e-book readers in general and the Kindle in particular.

However, as bright as things were looking for Amazon, there were signs that trouble was looming. Other manufacturers, having seen Amazon develop the e-book reader market, were now becoming aware of the massive potential of this fledgling sector. An impressive list of competitors, including the likes of Apple, Microsoft, Sony and Barnes and Noble, wanted their share – and they all had their own readers in development.

It’s a backhanded compliment to Amazon that practically every reader which shows any promise is immediately dubbed the “Kindle Killer”. The fact of the matter is however, that despite all the money and time spent on development by the competition, Amazon currently remains the biggest kid in the playground – and by some way. The two biggest threats – Sony’s Daily Edition reader and the Nook from Barnes and Noble – have both had their release dates moved back. It begins to look highly probable that Amazon itself could be the most likely producer of the Kindle Killer – the Kindle 4. Could we reasonably expect to see this sometime in 2010?

Discover the Amazon Kindle reader and learn how you can make it pay for itself by downloading free Kindle ebooks.

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