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Originally Posted by Crowl
I can definitely see them working with the book sellers in the future, but to be fair to them, when they started that wasn't really an option since none of those companies had really started to push things.
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I disagree, they could easily have approached B&N and said "we make the hardware, you make the books," e.g. pulled a Sony Ericsson. Who knows, maybe they did, but I doubt it.
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Originally Posted by Crowl
As far as their brand identity, they will still be seen as a premium hardware maker and brand overall, so will be more of a premium offering from whatever bookstores they work with in the future.
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Unfortunately, I suspect Sony's days as a "premium" brand are behind it. I'm not sure if they're back to profitability yet; and if the reader doesn't score well next holiday season....
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Originally Posted by Crowl
Amazon are probably still making money from the hardware, but things like an expanding market and the change to agency pricing will have boosted their profits so they can afford to make less profits per device.
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I suspect they're not making much profit right now -- the price has dropped nearly in half over the past year or so. They could easily take a short-term loss with the expectation of a manufacturing cut in, say, 3-6 months. Or just be selling them at cost to try and keep up market share.
Of course, without anyone releasing numbers, it's nearly impossible to say for sure.