According to the statistics put forth by two popular online research firms, Decide and Priceonomics, the Apple iPad retains a longer value than the Amazon Kindle devices.

Going by the research firms’ data, which was complied for CNN, electronics reseller Gazelle has revealed that while the iPad can be resold for approximately 50 percent of its original cost after about a year or more of its debut in the markets, the Kindle devices are not that much sought after in the secondary market.

The findings of the research showed that the value of the various Kindle e-readers is mostly in the range of between 25 percent and 33 percent of their original cost after one year of their launch; and their value sinks notably faster after one year.

Though it might appear at the first instance that the fact that the $499 price-tag of the iPad is much higher than the $199-priced Kindle Fire may have much to do with the depreciation in the value of the two devices, Gazelle executive Anthony Scarsella has pointed out in an e-mail that, on an average, the depreciation rate of the Kindle is 22 percent faster than that of the iPad.

Drawing attention to Amazon’s strategy of regularly launching improved models at drastically lower costs, and Apple’s policy of typically releasing improved models at the same price as their predecessors, Scarsella said: “Kindle's frequent price drops combined with multiple models now available heavily contribute to its reduced Gazelle value.”