Quote:
Originally Posted by ereaderundecided
Sure you can't compete with the Kindle as Amazon is losing approx. 10 USD on every device, but 200 EUR! That's insane...
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Insane? Yes and no. The European market for eReaders seems to have been decoupled from the US/international market for some time. I noticed this when I bought my first eReader (a Pocketbook 360) a couple of years ago. Although most of the online retailers were European, by far the cheapest was American (though I think PB have since withdrawn from the American market).
I had the same experience with my i62HD -- buying it direct from China was
considerably cheaper than
any of the European retailers.
I don't know what source this apparent pervasive price differential arises from (tax, regulatory costs, differentiated distributor pricing, etc?), nor whether it will survive the entry of the larger loss-leading/eBook-retailer-attached players into the European market (nor whether its demise will likewise lead to the demise of independent eReader brands). I do know that it's currently a fact of life.
I think in this case there is a degree of truth in the old cliche: "don't blame the player, blame the game".
Another aspect is that not only are "Amazon ... losing approx. 10 USD on every device", but they're doing so after economies of scale likely to be far better than any independent brand (with far smaller volumes) can hope to achieve. The non-monetary benefits of moving outside the monoculture comes at a monetary price.