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Originally Posted by SensualPoet
Very well, as far as I can see.
Amazon Kindle is only available mail order -- no stores distribute it.
B&N Nook doesn't sell its ereaders or its ebooks outside of the US.
Sony only sells the PRS-350 5" touch Pearl model -- at $199 -- which lacks wifi; it has stopped selling the PRS-650 6" (which was $249) and has never bothered telling the PRS-950 7" wifi in Canada.
That leaves Kobo almost to itself. It distributes in 350 books stores from sister company Chapters/Indigo and even accepts returns and swaps for damaged Kobos in store. It is in the biggest electronic big box stores -- Best Buy and its sister company Future Shop -- and is slowly pushing Sony out of the way in that channel.
Plus Kobo is in Wal-mart Canada as the only e-reader.
Finally, Kobo, even in Chapters / Indigo stores, makes a big deal about access to public library books. It is very open and friendly and continues to position itself as an international reader ... something which appeals to Canadian cultural milieu.
So, I believe it is doing very well. It will be interesting to see how important the bricks and mortar piece is in the US market: B&N has it, Amazon doesn't ... but Kindle doesn't seem to be hurting. Kobo might be able to thrive even without Borders.
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I have actually seen the Sony PRS-350 at certain Walmart stores in Canada (selling for about $180, if I recall correctly), but it is not listed on their website, which I find odd.
I hope that Kobo does well with this e-book reader, I am really loving this first look that I've had of it today in various videos. I wonder if it will have PDF reflow? For me, the only thing missing would be PDF reflow and the ability to access dictionaries in different languages. I am very tempted to get one, but I really don't need another ebook reader. Perhaps as a gift to someone.