Online retail giant Amazon.com has joined the price war of

Online retail giant Amazon.com has joined the price war of e-book readers, cutting the price of its popular 3G Kindle reader by more than a quarter. In doing so, it hopes to boost sales of the Kindle. The Kindle is available at a new price of $189, down from the previous $259. Amazon’s move came hours after Barnes and Noble, the largest bookseller in the US, reduced the price of its 3G Nook e-book reader from $259 to $199.

Which of the following, if true, would suggest that, contrary to expectations, Amazon.com’s Kindle sales will not increase?

A)The lower price will make the sale of Amazon’s e-book reader in developing countries a viable option.
out of scope.

B)The cost of 3G connectivity is projected to decline over the next few months.
3G is offered by both the devices. Hence does not affect the argument.

C)Barnes and Noble is offering a 10% discount to all its customers whose shopping bill exceeds $150.
Nook will cost $199 * %90 ~= $179, which is less than Kindle ( $189 )

d)The slash in the prices will force Amazon to slash many benefits it offers its employees.
out of scope.

E)Barnes and Noble is considering further reducing the price of its e-book readers.
further reducing the price? by how much ? $1?

IMO, it should be C. Explanation follows:

We have to find out a factor that can resolve the dilemma: despite offering a lower price ($189) for their e-book reader than Barnes and Noble, Amazon, contrary to popular expectations, will not be able to increase their sales

A)Does quite the opposite thing- if this is true, the the sales should actually increase. Eliminate A
B)Same as A. If it were true, the price would have been increased. Eliminate B
C)Seems Viable. Let's keep it for the moment.
d) Does not make sense. Whatever happens to employees does not have a direct correlation with sales. Again, you can't assume anything beyond the given premise
E) Well, seems lucrative in the first look. But it does not quantify the possible reduction and hence thus not ensure that Amazon will not have increase in sales. So eliminate E too.

The only option left is C. In fact, this should be the answer. By offering 10% discount, Barnes and Noble will be able to sell their e-book reader at a far cheaper price than that of Amazon.

C fits best. B&N is offering an advantage of 10% on $150. Which means a $15 reduction.

$199-15=$184; Therefore the B&N E-book will be cheapest.

OA?

This seems more of a PS question . C it is. Barnes and nobles price after 10% discount on 199 will be 179.1$ which is less than Kindle.

Watch out. It is 10% on $150!

Hope it helps!

Actually it is 10% on bill amt if it is > 150$. So discount is on 199.

Could be $151...

Stick to the lowest value: $150 !

hope it helps

Since we have a known the bill amount the discount will be on that amount not 150. calculating discount on 150 is in fact inaccurate. Not sure why you would calculate discount on 150.

MY ANSWER IS ALSO "C" BUT LOGIC DIFFERENT--------Online retail giant Amazon.com has joined the price war of e-book readers, cutting the price of its popular 3G Kindle reader by more than a quarter. In doing so, it hopes to boost sales of the Kindle. The Kindle is available at a new price of $189, down from the previous $259. Amazon’s move came hours after Barnes and Noble, the largest bookseller in the US, reduced the price of its 3G Nook e-book reader from $259 to $199.

Which of the following, if true, would suggest that, contrary to expectations, Amazon.com’s Kindle sales will not increase?

A)The lower price will make the sale of Amazon’s e-book reader in developing countries a viable option....AS PER THIS THE SALE WILL INCREASE....WE ARE LOOKING AT DECREASE.....

B)The cost of 3G connectivity is projected to decline over the next few months. BOTH ARE 3 G .... BOTH CAN DECLINE ...GIVES NO COST ADVANTAGE / DISADVANTAGE TO Amazon.com’s Kindle sales .

C)Barnes and Noble is offering a 10% discount to all its customers whose shopping bill exceeds $150......MATHEMATICALLY ...Barnes and Noble WILL COST LESS NOW....HENCE CORRECT ANSWER.

d)The slash in the prices will force Amazon to slash many benefits it offers its employees.THAT'S THE FIRMS INTERNAL MATTER....WE ARE TALKING OF COSTS....

E)Barnes and Noble is considering further reducing the price of its e-book readers."CONSIDERING" IS DIFFERENT FROM "IMPLEMENTING". ONLY IF THEY SAY THEY ARE " IMPLEMENTING" WILL THIS LOGIC HOLD TRUE......PEOPLE CONSIDER SO MANY THINGS?????

My doubt is in option C how do we know the customers are in fact buying barnes and noble and gaining the discount subsequently. This is not giving us absurdity on why the sales of Amazon's 3g kindle sales will go down.

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Online retail giant Amazon.com has joined the price war of e-book readers, cutting the price of its popular 3G Kindle reader by more than a quarter. In doing so, it hopes to boost sales of the Kindle. The Kindle is available at a new price of $189, down from the previous $259. Amazon’s move came hours after Barnes and Noble, the largest bookseller in the US, reduced the price of its 3G Nook e-book reader from $259 to $199.

Which of the following, if true, would suggest that, contrary to expectations, Amazon.com’s Kindle sales will not increase?

A)The lower price will make the sale of Amazon’s e-book reader in developing countries a viable option.

B)The cost of 3G connectivity is projected to decline over the next few months.

C)Barnes and Noble is offering a 10% discount to all its customers whose shopping bill exceeds $150.

d)The slash in the prices will force Amazon to slash many benefits it offers its employees.

E)Barnes and Noble is considering further reducing the price of its e-book readers.

In Stem - Author mentions about price war of e-book readers. So we need to look for options where we see that even after reducing the cost - why Amazon sales may not increase.

A. Contrary to what we are looking for. It will result in increased sales of Amazon’s e-book reader in developing countries.
B. Decline in 3G connectivity cost may make 3G Kindle reader more popular and may result in Amazon’s e-book reader sales increase.
C. Option C says - with 10% discount - B&N reader will cost less than Amazon’s e-book reader - making Amazon e-book reader less attractive.
D. Talks about Amazon employees - Irrelevant.
E. Current customers may not be aware of any such consideration. I would have selected this choice if option C was n't there.

Hope it helps.

The customers purchasing at Barnes can purchase items other than Kindle at Barnes.

I will share my thought process on E

E is actually a big trap. It has all the ingredient of an answer but it fails in one big respect it is vague and it can be interpreted in my number of ways.
Let us say the Barnes & Noble has reduced prices by 1$ so that would indeed profit Amazon, but if the price is reduced is 100$ then the situation changes and Amazon would not profit. So this statement is no good.
Be sure to make a mental note if this type of trap.

Which of the following, if true, would suggest that, contrary to expectations, Amazon.com’s Kindle sales will not increase?
we need to weaken the concluson; amazon attempt to increase sales wont work

A)The lower price will make the sale of Amazon’s e-book reader in developing countries a viable option.-out of scope

B)The cost of 3G connectivity is projected to decline over the next few months.-irrelavant, as both uses 3G

C)Barnes and Noble is offering a 10% discount to all its customers whose shopping bill exceeds $150.-correct

d)The slash in the prices will force Amazon to slash many benefits it offers its employees. -talks about benefits-employees, out

E)Barnes and Noble is considering further reducing the price of its e-book readers. - irrelevant