Quote:
Originally Posted by abeaty
It will be a miracle if iRex comes out of bankruptcy and makes it as a business. They will be competing in a market:
1) with an iPad that is cheaper than all of their eReaders
2) where the closest competitors are selling at a fraction of the cost
3) where their competitors can make money selling the eBooks so can take a loss on the hardware
4) where the latest eInk screens are only available to Sony and Amazon for the first 3-6 months (I just read this on the internet so it may not be true).
They are going to have to figure out their business plan and do it fast.
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Not all of that is quite true. The Irex 800 was USD 399.-. Closest competitor is the new Kindle DXG at 389.-. Yes, the Kindle has a bigger screen, but the Irex has a Wacom touch screen and better functionality.
Under normal circumstances they could have lowered the price to 350 and would have been very competitive. Their problem is that they didn't have any marketing -- that is where they were behind Amazon and Sony (which has better relationships with retailers, obviously). So the better mousetrap can't win in this case.
But I do believe that point 4 is (almost correct). Amazon does get the new screens earlier then anybody else. But not Sony.