Quote:
Originally Posted by Solicitous
But where Astak differs from other ereader sellers is they have an ebookstore, just like the big players (Amazon, B&N, Kobo). Others, such as Pocketbook, Jetbook, Aluratek etc do not have an ebookstore so they are surviving purely on profits from the reader.
I have said before and said again, money is no longer to be made on devices, content is the only real profit generating stream.
|
You do realize there's a big loophole in this argument though?
If Astak's hallmark is being an "open" reader, than the only thing driving people to THEIR e-bookstore versus any others is customer loyalty. After all, their customers can buy their eBooks anywhere.
It's possible the extra revenue from the eBookstore may put them in a slightly better position than Pocketbook, Jetbook, Aluratek, etc., but even so its going to be a drop in the bucket compared to Amazon, B&N and even Sony. They may not wind up in the WORST position among the small eReader companies, but its still going to be a far weaker one than they've grown used to. With a margin that small it doesn't automatically mean they can't stay in business, but it DOES mean that the effects of any mis-step are amplified.
Not that even in a worst case Astak would necessarily go anywhere. They've sold other products before eBook readers, and no doubt will sell yet others after (like Mobile Internet Devices, for example). The question is more whether or not they find they are able to continue to carve out enough profit to keep producing single purpose eInk eBook readers, or whether they have to fold it into whatever LCD-based MID devices they start selling.
The good news for us is that not everything is dependent on one company, since several others worldwide sell the same hardware. So worst case, its not like updated firmware, batteries and other parts for the units we have will go away. The question is more about what the company will try to sell going forward.