Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
It's worth bearing in mind that the eBook reader market is very, very different in different parts of the world. The nook is a complete "non player" outside North America. Sony is the market leader in much of Western Europe; Pocketbook is in an equally dominant position in Eastern Europe. I don't know what dominates in the Far East, but I'm pretty sure it's not Kindle, nook, or Sony.
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Yes, it is very different in different areas.
(And note my comments were explicitly about competing in North America.)
However if you want to discuss the broader issue...
The economics of the industry all come out of the same chinese factories.
And since North America makes up 70-80% of the world market for eink readers those three are the top three worldwide regardless of where their strengths come from.
Ebook reader manufacture is really a single market.
Ultimately, the availability of components and system pricing and design features of the generic OEM models will be impacted, if not outright determined, by the North American market. (It already is; just look at all the generic Kindle wannabes flowing out of China.)
And, don't forget, Kindle *is* a world player. At uniform prices.
They don't need to dominate a market to influence it.
Consumers are bound to compare the locally-available devices to the Kindle and if the value equation doesn't hold up they are not going to be happy.
(Let's see how long Sony's european domination lasts with the PRS-300 running 130 pounds versus Kindle at 109. The posts I see here suggest Sony is going to have to act fast.)
For better or worse, North America is leading the way in the adoption of eink readers and the mainstreaming of ebooks in the west. And by sheer volume, they are setting the terms of the industry. (China and Japan are more idiosyncratic markets and really separate. Yet even in Japan, Kindle is making ripples.)
Devices are going to have to get cheaper everywhere.
And as devices get cheaper, vendors are going to have to grow their volume to be able to survive on the shrinking margins. (Fixed costs will eat them alive otherwise.)
Pocketbook is doing fine at 50K per month but those sales are spread across multiple markets and North America is one of those markets. If they intend to stay in it, they are going to have to compete on NorthAmerican terms. And those terms are going to require some form of physical retail presence. Without it they won't be able to mine the market properly and might be better of leaving it.
So far they have shown no interest in leaving so the must intend to compete. Which is great. But competing in NorthAm means meeting the requirements of the market because, yes, the North American market *is* different. It is also where volume sales are to be found. If you need volume, you need to be here.