You'd think that Kobo was the only company selling e-readers into the Canadian market

[Suzanna]

One of my sisters has a Sony eReader (that's the brand she started with and is used to) but she buys all her ebooks from Kobo. So even those who don't have a Kobo eReader are buying their books from Kobo. I think it was a very wise move on their part to offer books in a format (the ADE editions) that can be used on all major epub eReaders.

[Quexos]

Can't one buy books from the Sony bookstore with a Kobo too ?

Originally Posted by Suzanna

One of my sisters has a Sony eReader (that's the brand she started with and is used to) but she buys all her ebooks from Kobo. So even those who don't have a Kobo eReader are buying their books from Kobo. I think it was a very wise move on their part to offer books in a format (the ADE editions) that can be used on all major epub eReaders.

[Suzanna]

Originally Posted by Quexos

Can't one buy books from the Sony bookstore with a Kobo too ?

I believe they can, but I haven't tried it myself.

[Cdesja5]

Originally Posted by Quexos

Can't one buy books from the Sony bookstore with a Kobo too ?

Yes but not directly on the device. You can get books from any store that sells epubs using Adobe DRM (or no DRM at all), however the download is for an "acsm" file not the "epub" itself. It must go through ADE (on the computer) to get the epub file which can then be read on the Kobo.

[murg]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

"Xerox" was for photocopy machines (took Xerox the better part of 20 years to stop that - and I'm betting they now regret it as I can't remember the last time I saw a Xerox product of any sort on the market :P),

Xerox is still around. We have some of their copiers/printers at the office. Complete crap. Xerox has seriously forgotten everything they knew about copiers.

[scrapking]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

No-one I know has ever bought a Kobo book. Not that that means anything but I find it hard to believe that Kobo sells more actual ebooks anywhere than Amazon. If they did I would expect them to be announcing it.

Who says they didn't announce it?

http://blog.kobobooks.com/triple-digit-growth-at-kobo/

Note that they are specific that this in reference to e-books, not e-readers. Their dominance in e-reader sales in Canada has been well established prior to this, but this was the first reference to e-book sales dominance in Canada I'm aware of.

[treadlightly]

Everyone I encounter IRL (and I'm not claiming this is a very large number of people) refers to an ereader as a "kobo", so it is clearly the most popular brand in this area.

[scrapking]

Originally Posted by Quexos

I guess it makes sense that Kobo sells well in Canada. There is always a nationalistic fiber in people that plays a part. I guess Sony sells better in Japan and Apple sells better in the United States, see my point?

Yes and no. Despite RIM being Canadian, I have really no interest in swapping my Windows Phone for a Blackberry, or my Surface for a Playbook. It's still got to be a good product and/or service.

And Kobo's marketing doesn't wrap the flag around the product, so I'm not even sure how many purchasers here even know the company is based in Toronto (and, of those, how many also know it's now owned by Rakuten).

Now the Glo is one of the best readers out there so that alone is good reason for good sales. At this point I wonder how well the Glo will do in the US.

I think the Glo is significant in that the hype is all about front-lit readers, and the Kobo Glo is the only one being offered to Canadian retailers (at least by a major player). The Kindle Paperwhite is absent from the Canadian market (as has every other new Kindle, at launch, from Canada for years now). Nooks aren't on the market here. Sony doesn't have a front-lit e-reader. Etc.

Though undeniably, Kobo's early success can be largely attributed to the market strength of Chapters/Indigo.

[l_macd]

Well it's certainly not a coincidence that Kobo's main market is the country that it was developed in.

It's not the only reason obviously, it's a good product, it's always been sold at a very competitive price (discounts on ebooks are a help too) and has been widely available in the biggest bookstore, but another big factor is the fact that there isn't a Canadian Amazon store - so right the Kindle Paperwhite isn't an option.... taking all of that into account, it'd be pretty amazing if Kobo weren't the dominant player in Canada.

I'm more interested in seeing how they do elsewhere, and if they are now the 2nd biggest ereader brand as lecoeur has just posted, then that's definitely cause for celebration.

[ottdmk]

I just found an interesting article on the Kindle & library lending in Canada that touches on other ways Amazon neglects the Canadian market. Wish I could find something newer though...

[ColdSun]

I'm from the United States and I'm a Kobo fan. I hope they do well as a company and continue creating great devices. I've got a Kobo Glo and as soon as I can get one I'll have a Kobo Arc.

[Auricle]

As a Canadian, I don't see why it's so hard to understand Kobo's dominance in Canada. It's all about marketing, market presence and product visibility and access. A large part of it is Kobo's partnership with Chapters/Indigo, Canada's (only) major bookstore chain. If you read books in Canada, you know and likely go to Chapters/Indigo and associate buying books with Chapters/Indigo. So when people switch from books to ebooks, those same people associate ebooks with Kobo because that's what's available and marketed at Chapters/Indigo. Other ereaders are available but none of them are as accessible and straightforward to use in Canada as Kobo. It also helps a lot that the Kobo products are decent products - not perfect and maybe not even best in all categories but very competitive.

I just bought my first ereader this year and after looking into all the options I went with a Kobo Glo. And so far in ebook buying, I've done most of my buying from Kobo - they have almost everything I want to buy and, using the coupons available, I get very decent pricing, and no exchange rate fees.

So, in Canada, for most of the ereader/ebook buyers, Kobo just makes sense - and until some other company is willing to spend dollars in marketing and product accessibility, it's likely going to continue.

[ShelaghDB]

For what its worth, I am from Canada, Toronto in fact and I just purchased a KOBO mini last week for the Black Friday sales although I am not sure now I should have as I am not sure its even going to list my ebooks as I have easily done on my iPhone and HP touch pads so i may end up reading again on just my iPhone LOL

But they do offer good deals...hence, why I bought it

[Auricle]

On and I really doubt Kobo's dominance here in Canada has anything to it being (formerly) a Canadian company. "Buy Canadian" doesn't have anywhere near the pull in Canada as "Buy American" has in America. Most of the time in Canada, buying Canadian is because we don't have any other decent/economica/reasonable options.

[BWinmill]

Originally Posted by Auricle

On and I really doubt Kobo's dominance here in Canada has anything to it being (formerly) a Canadian company.

Agreed, mostly for the reasons you mentioned.

The xenophobic attitude of other vendors also did a great service for Kobo.