Asustek to launch e-book reader under Eee family

[jankovicgood]

Another information about the Asus ebook reader.

Asustek Computer plans to launch an e-book reader under its Eee brand by the end of 2009 at the earliest, according to company president Jerry Shen.

Meanwhile, Micro-Star International (MSI) is also evaluating the e-book reader market, according to industry sources.

The sources pointed out that the requirements for entering the e-book reader market are even lower than for netbooks, but the key to success lies in establishing a content delivery platform.

Currently, demand for e-book readers is mainly concentrated in North America and Europe, with penetration in Asia markets low due to differences in reading habits, the sources noted.

The sources said they are conservative about the business potential e-book readers can bring to Taiwan's PC vendors and content publishers.

Source: http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20090827PD211.html

[Abecedary]

Interesting. I'd like to see what Asus or MSI come up with, or if they just launch clones of other devices. And just a warning for everyone: don't bother clicking the link--the entire article is quoted above.

[LDBoblo]

Differences in reading habits

Perhaps that's why I love to hate my ebook reader...I have adopted a different reading habit!

[wodin]

Asus was instrumental in launching the netbook phenom, perhaps they can capitalize that experience in the eReader market. It's evident that the margins in readers are huge. The hardware/firmware is minimal, yet prices approach those of full fledged netbooks.

Several years ago I bought a 10 inch Sony “mini notebook” for $2,000. Today a more powerful Asus eeePC 1000* costs $300! I think a 600% price reduction for eReaders would price them at just about where they should be.

I don’t blame the end product manufacturers totally for this; I think the obscene profits cross the whole spectrum of suppliers. For instance what is it about eInk screens that make them worth $90 wholesale?

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by wodin

I don’t blame the end product manufacturers totally for this; I think the obscene profits cross the whole spectrum of suppliers. For instance what is it about eInk screens that make them worth $90 wholesale?

Gotta capitalize on it before it's obsolesced. With the market getting more saturated, perhaps some innovation in some way will be driven...of course, I suspect the next big thing after wifi will be FM radio and perhaps a built-in webcam so you can take 4-bit grayscale videos at 1fps

[sforce]

The Asians are going to destroy whatever profit margins Amazon enjoys with their Kindle. And from what I understand, Amazon loses money on their ebook bestsellers. As the shift to open standards gathers momentum, and the Chinese, etc, manufacturers enter the fray, I wonder how long before Amazon pulls the pull on their hardware experiment?

Competing against the Asians at the low-end, and Apple (assuming) at the high-end, is going to bury Amazon's relatively small R&D department. I just don't see it enduring...

[ProDigit]

According to tomshardware it'll be named the "Eee-Book Reader".
I just read about it today..

[frozennorth]

Originally Posted by sforce

The Asians are going to destroy whatever profit margins Amazon enjoys with their Kindle. And from what I understand, Amazon loses money on their ebook bestsellers. As the shift to open standards gathers momentum, and the Chinese, etc, manufacturers enter the fray, I wonder how long before Amazon pulls the pull on their hardware experiment?

Competing against the Asians at the low-end, and Apple (assuming) at the high-end, is going to bury Amazon's relatively small R&D department. I just don't see it enduring...

The Kindle is made in China.

[Mosherix]

If you see Pixel Qi's home page it says.....

"The screens will be available for mini-laptops and ebook readers in high volume mass production in late-2009"

Will this reader be the first one?

[sforce]

Originally Posted by frozennorth

The Kindle is made in China.

Um, duh? Foxconn, I believe...

To be consistent, you should have added "and so are Apple products. "

The point was, that the Chinese are putting their own names on the various devices. And that the Chinese don't have the same margin concerns, and do have the manufacturing and design capabilities--all in house.