Quote:
Originally Posted by SensualPoet
If you accept that a 6" Kindle, Kobo, Nook and Sony e-ink e-reader each delivers about the same performance -- the ability to easily purchase, read and manage a modest library of purchased/borrowed ebooks -- then secondary factors start to come into play. These include the "nice-to-haves" -- like case construction, local stores in which to purchase the e-reader, design attributes, brand experience -- and, of course, price.
If every reader delivers the basics about equally well (in the mind of the buyer), after the "nice-to-haves" tip the balance somewhat to this reader or that, then price starts to become important.
It's true you can buy a Yugo or BMW and accomplish the task of picking up groceries ... but one of those choices, despite appeal to the ego and status, still presents the household budget with a price hurdle: it's not enough to say, "I always buy BMW".
Buying an e-reader doesn't have the same impact on the household budget, of course. I don't think many people, who will actually use an e-reader regularly, will blanch about the difference of $99, $114, $129 or $139 -- it's all close enough.
Kindle, Kobo and Nook have planted themselves in the $139 territory. Sony, in its wisdom, is $229 (and $249 in Canada). When the Sony e-reader sits on the shelf next to another brand, the consumer is starkly faced with nearly twice the price for a 6" reader. And for those who care, the more expensive one doesn't offer wifi.
Now, the new e-readers from Sony may very well offer new goodies and a more competitive price. Last year's refresh matched the brand new Pearl screen from Kindle and updated the touch technology. This year they may up-the-ante while matching wifi. But unless they narrow the price gap, most consumers will look elsewhere and that's a really odd thing considering it is Sony that led for so long and it is Sony that remains the only legitimate CE in this playing field.
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It has a lot to do with marketing and availability; the latter you talked about. Amazon gets the word out on its Kindles better than any other eInk manufacturer. Sony is dead last in marketing. I doubt I ever would have heard of the Sony x00 and x50 readers if not for sites like this one. I might have stumbled across one in a retail store, but Sony is also dead last in the availability category too. Even Amazon has their Kindles available in more brick and mortar shops in the USA than Sony does their readers. As a matter of fact, none of the brick and mortar shops in my area even seem to want to carry the Sony Readers anymore. I guess they simply don't sell well when they are sitting next to 3 or 4 less expensive brands. Heck, you can buy the top of the line 6" Kindle 3G Wifi model for less than the 650, assuming you could ever find a 650. I think it will take a lot more than Harry Potter to create huge sales for any new Sony Readers. It will take a mindset change at Sony! And it will take a 950-like reader priced at no more than $140. But they best get rid of that darn metallic silver and find some black paint!