Quote:
Originally Posted by medard
You should keep in mind that the market for Eink Readers is really small, compared to other portable electronic devices. Just have a look at a consumer electronics center of your choice with your own eyes.
It would be sad if we'd only have companies with integrated stores and their own Big Data analysis like Kobo and Amazon left on this market. We would have dedicated Eink Readers then, but for a high price, in my personal opinion.
Maybe we'll see some new manufacturers soon, but this is not a sign of the "ebook revolution" people talked about a year ago. It's rather a sign of it's dissolution.
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So far, the small specialist vendors like Onyx and Bookeen seem to be surviving.
If we go by the numbers quoted for the new Onyx HD reader (1000 units at US$149, wholesale) the barriers to entry aren't terribly high.
The problem is the big electronics companies aren't structured like the small specialists. The last time I saw credible numbers, circa 2011, Sony was selling about a million units a year and losing money, whereas the smaller outfits like Pocketbook were making money at 100,000 units. (I remember a BeBook quote that they needed 25000 units a year to break even.)
In effect, Sony needs to sell over ten times more readers than the small vendors just to break even. Being a "tweener" probably doesn't help Sony's ebook operation much either; their ebookstore is likely a net drain on the bottom line compared to Kobo's or the specialists, who don't sell ebooks at deep discount. (29 pence, was it?) Sony has neither the deep content revenues of the walled gardens nor the lean cost structures of the hardware-only specialists and they are paying the price for it.
Having a knack for zig-ing when the market is zag-ing only compounds their fundamental problems, as reflected by their public statements on front lighting.
They really need to refocus on a hardware-only ereader business and look at where the core of the market is moving. When a small player like Onyx can deliver a product like the T68 and Sony's counter is a glued-on cover plate, there clearly is something amiss in their market analysis.