Quote:
Originally Posted by Sil_liS
Actually there are quite a few tablets that sell for under $300. I think that you are referring to the lowest price on the iPad.
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Yes and no.
There are a lot of low end, low-grade android tablets selling in the eink reader price range but they're all second and third tier vendors with minimal visibility among mainstream buyers. The tablets from high visibility vendors with iPad-like hardware all sell at iPad prices, which explains their underwhelming sales.
Hobbyists/enthusiasts like us might be willing to experiment and take a chance on the likes of Archos, Viewsonic, and Velocity Micro but the mainstream buyer isn't. The price spread needs to be bigger before they'll chance an APEX (remember them) , Westinghouse, or Vizio.
Also, webpad tablets are a new category and their value is not immediately apparent; ebook readers have an easier sell: lower price deep in impulse buy territory, clear value equation, and known brands, readily available from first-tier channels.
This is all short-term stuff, anyway.
Both categories face longer-term challenges beyond people's attempt to drum up competition between two product categories with very different usage profiles, pricing, and customer bases.