Amazon introduced a cheaper version of its larger-screen Kindle in a bid to beat back competition from Apple’s iPad and a slew of dedicated e-reader devices. The online retailer dropped the price of its Kindle DX to $379 from $489 and dressed it up in a dark gray “graphite” exterior.

The price cut is aimed at Apple’s all-in-one iPad tablet computer that functions as an e-reader and starts at $499.

Amazon also hopes to gain new upgrades to its large-screen Kindle among potential buyers of small-screen, but relatively pricey, rival readers from Sony and Barnes & Noble.

Last week Amazon and Barnes & Noble went tit-for-tat over their smaller readers, with both starting out at around $259.

Barnes & Noble fired first by cutting the price of its Nook e-reader by $60 to $199. Just hours later, Amazon reduced its regular Kindle to $189.

Amazon, which gained the early lead in the market for e-readers, has played the bully at times with publishers over book prices.

Facing more competition, Amazon is slashing prices and offering publishers and authors more generous royalties.