Quote:
Originally Posted by charmian
One factor I think also contributes is that if we're talking about the second group of people (the group of people who are mainly interested in a tablet for reading, and anything else is a nice extra but not really necessary), this group is 1) smaller probably than the group who wants a tablet for multiple purposes, 2) less willing to pay a higher price, since they want a single-purpose device, and they know that single purpose is not very demanding on the hardware, and 3) have less incentive to upgrade their devices. Thusly, it is easier to saturate this market and they are less likely to buy a new device every year: they are more like the e-ink reader market, which has been slowing down.
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I think you are right that the second group is a smaller group than the first group, but I think that the second group is made up of the people who actually buy and read more than 1 book a year, whereas the first group is not. Granted I only have anecdotal evidence to support this contention, but I suspect that I am not alone in being a member of the second group and buying dozens, if not into the hundreds, of books each year. (Last year, for example, I bought 70 harcovers and 340 ebooks [not counting the free ebooks I also "bought"]).
If your primary business is selling books, as is the case with B&N, then your focus probably should be on the second group. I'm not quite sure what Amazon's primary business is other than to be a general retailer, in which case the focus probably should be on the first group.
You are also right that since I am primarily interested in reading there is little incentive for me to upgrade the device as long as it functions well for reading. B&N can keep improving the video quality on its tablet but that won't induce me to buy a new tablet.
I'm not so sure, however, about unwillingness to pay a higher price. At least in my case, I paid more for my original Sony 505 ($300) than I would have paid for either a Kindle or Nook, and then I bought the Sony 950 (again, $300) when it became available for more than either the Kindle or Nook would have cost. I was willing to pay more because the Sony devices gave me what I wanted (I have to admit I really hated the design of the original Nook and always disliked the keyboard Kindles. I bought the Sony 950 because I really liked the advanced touch screen, which none of the others had at the time, as well as the 7-inch screen). I think the issue is more what is being offered for the price than the price itself.