I have reported in the past that Amazon is going to refresh the entry level Kindle Basic sometime this year and it looks like Amazon is having a firesale on this particular model. Last week the company discounted the Basic from $99 to $69 and this week they have lowered the price to $49 without Special Offers and this includes the International Model too. They are completely sold out of the Special Offers version and the white variant color. It looks like Amazon is close to being sold out of all models.
I believe that Amazon is going to refresh the Kindle Basic with an E Ink Carta HD display screen, whereas the current generation product runs E Ink Pearl, which is around ten years old. They will also add in more internal storage to house more audiobooks from Audible.

Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past ten years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times.