The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 16GB version is sold out and unavailable in many countries. This leads many people to speculate that a 12th-generation model might be waiting in the wings. There is no estimated date for the Paperwhite 16GB to be back in stock.
The Paperwhite 5 is sold out in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. It is still available in major markets such as the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. Usually, when the Kindle Paperwhite or other Kindle models are listed as unavailable, there is an estimated date on which it will be back in stock, but this is not the case. In recent times, the recently discontinued Kindle Oasis faced similar circumstances. It was sold in many different countries, and one by one, the product said it was unavailable.
There have been heavy rumours that Amazon has been working on a few different models that will come out soon. Waiting in the wings is a refresh of the Paperwhite and Kindle Basic that should come out this year. Many people in the upstream supply chain also make screens and components for a colour version of the Kindle Scribe, but this won’t come out until sometime in 2025.
What new features will the upcoming new Kindle models have? The Basic Kindle will likely get warm lighting since the current model has white LED lights and no warm ones. It could also get the Carta 1200 e-paper display that the current generation Paperwhite 5 employs. The 12th Generation Paperwhite is tricky. It is believed that the new Carta 1300 e-paper display, better lighting system, faster Mediatek processor, and more storage to handle audiobooks, manga, and magazines will be introduced.
The latest code found on the firmware for various Kindle models last week had some interesting tidbits. It mentioned that there was a new 11th-generation e-reader with a MediaTek processor. The only e-reader that this might be is a new Oasis since the last one had a Freescale/NXP processor and a Micro USB so that it could be due for an upgrade, but I remain wary.
I have been covering Amazon Kindle news since 2008. The unavailability of one of their bestselling e-readers in many countries at once usually means it is out of stock. The stockpile will not be replenished once these e-readers are sold out in larger markets. Amazon never says a specific tablet, e-reader, or Fire TV box is ever discontinued; one day, it is available, and the next, it is not.