Quote:
Originally Posted by linereader
Several articles I've read over the last few days have mentioned that e-reader sales have peaked, including the wikipedia entry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ereader
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"In 2013 ABI Research found that the decline in the e-reader market was due to the aging of the customer base.[5] Another reason given for this "alarmingly precipitous decline" is the rise of more general purpose tablets that provide e-books along with other apps in a similar form factor.[6]"
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This article on Samsung's promising Liquavista technology also mentioned the sales slump http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...to-amazon.html
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Shipments of e-book readers will decline 27 percent to 10.9 million units in 2013, according to researcher IHS Inc. (IHS) By 2016, IHS expects 7.1 million e-readers to ship, less than a third of the peak volume seen in 2011.
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While they still sell millions per year, the numbers have dropped from their peak. The reasons? Who knows. Some people think the aged users are 'dropping off'. Others think cheap(er) tablets are taking over. Their prices have come down a fair bit lately...any colour e-reader will have a hard time competing, even though outdoor use would be more pleasant with a real sungliht-viewable e-reader.
I thought it would be interesting to gauge what would make people want to buy and/or upgrade.
I would look for:
Removable battery Make one so I can replace my own battery easily when the battery doesn't hold enough charge or I encounter some strange error in the future. Embedding batteries results in ridiculous e-waste and every manufacturer knows this.
Better resolutions I'd love to see this in the ~100ish price range.
Colour An obvious one, but I'd love a sunlight-readable display that does this well.
Waterprooof An obvious choice, going where paper books can never go, and marketed as such. Simple rubber seals will do it.
Bundling the case! A $2 item should never be optional.
Better responsiveness Natural page-turns, better handling of large files and PDFs.
Audio Still surprised companies like Sony take out audio support that was included in previous editions.
1) What are your thoughts on the reasons e-reader sales have peaked?
2) what do you want to see in a new e-reader? |
Most of your suggestions would actually lead to lower sales figures since e-readers would last longer.
They probably should take the opposite approach, make a bare-bones reader for $30.-, with prices dropping further in the future.
There is, however, also a sizeable market left for different screen sizes. Perhaps every manufacturer will follow Kobo's lead so that all heavy readers will re-buy their e-readers with a new screen size?