• Bloomberg, Monday, March 1, 2010 1:28 PM

Making Apple's efforts to market its $500 and $700 e-readers more difficult, rival devices are likely to sell for less than $150 this year. The price drop is the result of a new chip from Freescale Semiconductor Inc., whose products power about 90% of electronic book readers, according to Bloomberg. A former division of Motorola, Freescale plans to begin offering samples of a new processor that takes on the functions of other chips, and thereby reduces e-reader costs.

Market leaders like Amazon and Sony are both Freescale customers. Presently, Amazon's Kindle readers retail for $259 and $489, while Sony's three models range from $199.99 to $399.99. Meanwhile, Apple's iPad tablet, due to launch later this month, will retail for $499 to $699, and runs on an Apple-designed chip.

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