Sony's Response To New Kindle: Not Chasing "Cheapest E-Reader" Title

[Graham]

I'd be happy to pay another 20% to 30% on the price for robust, classy construction, but Sony need to release machines that have better quality throughout. That includes bringing their firmware up to date, and improving their screen contrast/anti-glare on their Touch models.

I bought the cheaper Elonex 511EB rather than the PRS-300 because the plastic construction was pretty robust, if not as stylish, and the Elonex was cheaper, had 8 times the memory, was lighter, and had better support for ePubs, let alone its additional features such as TTS and audio. I didn't even consider the PRS-600 as I could clearly see that the act of reading was going to be more pleasurable on the non-touch screens.

I raise this because while the current crop of Sony readers do have classy construction they're not the leaders in overall quality and features that we would expect for 'premium' machines.

I think any new Sony machines need to be something special to entice people who don't absolutely need a touch screen to pay the premium, not just better built.

Graham

[astra]

There is another topic, I take my post over there

[basschick]

i sure would. i've been paying monthly recurring for rhapsody for over 3 years, and i love it.

Originally Posted by fumanchu314159

Or better, like emusic subscriptions have done (e.g. Spotify), pay a monthly fee to read whatever you want...without keeping your own copy. What would you pay for that?

[bevdeforges]

Here on Mobile Read, there are 11 (count them) forums for the various brands of reader plus a 12th forum for "others." Yet the press only ever recognizes the Kindle and the iPad and sees them as competing head to head for the entire market. Just shows how far the journalistic "arts" have fallen in the last couple of decades.

I'm very happy with my Sony PRS600, precisely because it's a single function device with NO wireless connection. The software that comes with it isn't all that great, but despite all the gripes here about the Sony store, they have their good points, too. In the 4 months I've had my Reader, the Sony store has twice dropped the price of a newly released book I had my eye on to $9.99 and I've swooped down on the opportunity to get it. Wasn't $9.99 the price Amazon was promising on all best sellers before the Big Five got their way?

I still think we'll see Amazon selling e-books in a variety of formats within 5 years or so. But until that time, I find epub versions of books by the Big Five and others at wildly differing prices across the Internet.

And I'm happy to see Sony stating publicly that they're not going for the cheapest reader price. The features I have on my reader are those I need and want. There is more to competition in the marketplace than finding the cheapest prices.

[SkyDream]

Although i love my 500 and 900 Sony's going to loose in terms of quality and reading experience over time if they aren't going to release new models or better firmware.

There are lots of requirements for new software features but Sony didn't hear the voice of the customer. There's new exciting hardware available but will Sony release a new device with new hardware any time soon. From my current experience i doubt that.

[cmdahler]

Originally Posted by bevdeforges

Here on Mobile Read, there are 11 (count them) forums for the various brands of reader plus a 12th forum for "others." Yet the press only ever recognizes the Kindle and the iPad and sees them as competing head to head for the entire market. Just shows how far the journalistic "arts" have fallen in the last couple of decades.

Or... On MR you get a skewed view of the popularity of various readers. For example, take the infamous iRex, which has a dedicated forum on MR. Here in the U.S., I'd be surprised if there were even as many as 5 thousand units of all iRex readers combined in retail circulation. How many people in mass markets like this one have even heard of Kobo or the Pocketbook? Hell, anytime anyone ever saw me reading my Sony, the first thing they'd invariably ask is, "Is that a Kindle?" In the general public's eye, Apple and Amazon are the only two readers available, and certainly based on volume of sales they are without question the only two brands worth talking about from a media perspective. That's a marketing failure on the part of Sony and all the other reader manufacturers, not a mainstream media problem. It's not the media's job to raise awareness of a brand, they just report on the things the public is most interested in.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

It is possible though that they are losing market share, but still selling more units as the general market for ebooks grows. However, in terms of press they are largely out of the game -- seems like it's Amazon and Apple for the moment.

You see similar stuff with the smartphone market, if you went by the amount of press you would think people were only buying iphone or android, whereas the reality is that blackberry are continuing to grow and almost managing to maintain their market share despite the high level it is at.

We simply don't know what the numbers are like for Sony, but the fact of the matter is that they are not dependent on growing the ebook market like b&n or amazon so if they weren't making money on the hardware they would simply stop.

[SensualPoet]

Sony has been in "turn-around" mode for a few years. It's a great brand and has produced a lot of outstanding consumer electronic products over the years. Without question, its e-readers were top-of-the-line when released. But Sony's challenge is it is a Queen Elizabeth II ship at a time when markets are fragmenting and smaller vessels or alternate systems are needed to shore up profits.

It's astounding how quickly markets are changing. Sony's e-readers seem too "2008ish" or "2009ish" ... yikes! Has the world changed that much in seven months of 2010?

The answer is: "Yes, it has". During 2010, Google has entered, and exited, the world market with its Nexus One mobile phone. The same applies to Microsoft with its Kin phones. In less than one year -- starting at Oct 2009 -- Amazon has released the Kindle 2, the Kindle 2 international, the DX international, the DX Graphite with new tech screen, added free unlimited 3G Internet in 100 markets, weathered a mutiny by five core suppliers, survived, thrived and profited through the iPad onslaught. What has Sony done during this time? Approximately nothing in the e-reader space. Have they even bothered with an iPad / iPhone / iTouch e-book store app?

It's hardly news that Sony isn't today and never has "chased the cheapest" devices in any market. But how does sitting on the sidelines -- when Amazon's evolution, B&N with Nook and the price leader Kobo have come to market in the past 10 months -- further Sony's e-reader division's future? Sony has signaled they are NOT interested in participating and the latest interview "we're focussed on quality" simply proves the division's demise is imminent.

Perhaps they will fold the e-bookstore into B&N and become the manufacturer of Nooks.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by rogue_librarian

I wonder who'll be the first to adopt some kind of recurring payment scheme. You know, give the reader away for free in return for buying a book a month for three years or something like that.

Originally Posted by fumanchu314159

Or better, like emusic subscriptions have done (e.g. Spotify), pay a monthly fee to read whatever you want...without keeping your own copy. What would you pay for that?

The subscription model appeals to me more as an avid reader. If they figured a formula to pad the ebook price by a certain amount so a book per month would cover the Kindle, people who read more than that would be overpaying. I suppose they could offer both, though.

[luqmaninbmore]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

Or... On MR you get a skewed view of the popularity of various readers. For example, take the infamous iRex, which has a dedicated forum on MR. Here in the U.S., I'd be surprised if there were even as many as 5 thousand units of all iRex readers combined in retail circulation. How many people in mass markets like this one have even heard of Kobo or the Pocketbook? Hell, anytime anyone ever saw me reading my Sony, the first thing they'd invariably ask is, "Is that a Kindle?" In the general public's eye, Apple and Amazon are the only two readers available, and certainly based on volume of sales they are without question the only two brands worth talking about from a media perspective. That's a marketing failure on the part of Sony and all the other reader manufacturers, not a mainstream media problem. It's not the media's job to raise awareness of a brand, they just report on the things the public is most interested in.

Dude, the Sony Readers are in Walmart, Target, Borders, and other shops. They are even in a vending machine at the mall across the street from my apartment. It was my interest in the Sony reader that brought me to MR, not the other way around. The Kobo is now getting displayed prominently in Borders; I was able to sell my used Kobo just this afternoon because of the name recognition that this placement generated. I think Sony should just release and update 505 model with better PDF support, dictionary support, and, perhaps, a wireless connection (they could use an on-screen keyboard like the pocket books use for searching the store and entering your credentials). With the pearl screen at the right price, this could be a killer product, especially with Sony's name behind it.

Luqman

[cmdahler]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

Dude, the Sony Readers are in Walmart, Target, Borders, and other shops. They are even in a vending machine at the mall across the street from my apartment. It was my interest in the Sony reader that brought me to MR, not the other way around. The Kobo is now getting displayed prominently in Borders; I was able to sell my used Kobo just this afternoon because of the name recognition that this placement generated. I think Sony should just release and update 505 model with better PDF support, dictionary support, and, perhaps, a wireless connection (they could use an on-screen keyboard like the pocket books use for searching the store and entering your credentials). With the pearl screen at the right price, this could be a killer product, especially with Sony's name behind it.

Luqman

Dude, doesn't matter a hill of beans. Ask any average human about ereaders and of the 10% who are even aware they exist in the first place, 90% of those will understand words like Kindle and iPad. Sony has a presence in retail stores, and that does help to raise awareness. But grab a Sony and head out to the general public and count how many people ask you if that's a Kindle. Speaks volumes. Sony is dying a slow death in the ereader market through lack of aggressive marketing and pricing. Mark my words, within 2 years, Sony will have exited this market entirely. Amazon will drive them totally away not through a superior product, but through sheer marketing and pricing. Within 3 to 5 years, Apple will completely dominate the high-end reader market, and Amazon will be the only player worth mentioning in the lower-end eInk market. There will virtually be no one else.

[davidspitzer]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

Dude, doesn't matter a hill of beans. Ask any average human about ereaders and of the 10% who are even aware they exist in the first place, 90% of those will understand words like Kindle and iPad. Sony has a presence in retail stores, and that does help to raise awareness. But grab a Sony and head out to the general public and count how many people ask you if that's a Kindle. Speaks volumes. Sony is dying a slow death in the ereader market through lack of aggressive marketing and pricing. Mark my words, within 2 years, Sony will have exited this market entirely. Amazon will drive them totally away not through a superior product, but through sheer marketing and pricing. Within 3 to 5 years, Apple will completely dominate the high-end reader market, and Amazon will be the only player worth mentioning in the lower-end eInk market. There will virtually be no one else.

Sony is doomed in ereader market. They will hold on stubbornly to the bitter end but they have lost their opportunity with consumers. We may talk about their merits as ereader pundits but you are so right. Consumers know kindle and iPad, even the Nook is struggling with name recognition, but they have a chance.

Sony I'm sorry sorry to say has another log for their failure fire along with, atrac, memory sticks, Betamax, psp's and so on

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

How many people in mass markets like this one have even heard of Kobo or the Pocketbook?

That depends where you live, of course. In Eastern Europe, Pocketbook are the dominant player in the market. It's easy to make the mistake of thinking that the same brands are popular everything. That's definitely not true.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That depends where you live, of course. In Eastern Europe, Pocketbook are the dominant player in the market. It's easy to make the mistake of thinking that the same brands are popular everything. That's definitely not true.

Agreed, even in the UK I'd say the Sony readers would be the most recognised by the average consumer, if you discount the general recent euphoria over the iPad.

Graham

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by mikij

My PRS-600 looks very classy and in the same time its construction is robust (not the cheap plastic as other readers).
However, the selection of books in Sony Store is its limiting factor.
IMO, with a better screen (contrast), this model would have been great and no cheap competitor could have beaten them (in spite of price).
I agree with banjobama - my home is full of Sony products, too (my TV, my MP3 player, the computer I am writing on, DVD player) and these are long-lasting and quality products. I respect their decision.

I live in Australia and couldn't care less what's in the Sony Store - I can't buy from it. I find I get anything I want to read for it anyway straight from booksellers and publishers. It's quite a pleasure to not have to go through Amazon in particular.
My house has some Sony stuff but none of it was bought new. I even bought my Sony Reader PRS-500 second hand - and Sony exchanged it for a PRS-600 for me after I sent it for firmware upgrade for the second time. They've given me support one could never dream of getting from the likes of Amazon.
The only feature I would like is extended battery life - and it might be as easy as upgrading the battery myself, assuming lithium ion batteries are improving all the time!