MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Why is there no e-ink innovation in the USA?

fjtorres · 07-09-2015, 12:10 PM

It is easier to reach 5000 customers in a small country of 9M than reaching 5000 customers in a country of 330M.
The marketing costs are out of line with the product's market.

That is why Kobo treats the US market as an afterthought.
And why their global model is based on relying on local partners doing the bulk of the marketing.
To play a global game on eink you need deep pockets willing to live off thin margins. Amazon can do that. Sony couldn't.

Asus, Acer, Samsung, and iRiver all bailed out when ereader pricing dropped.There wasn't enough money left on the hardware side to cover the cost of global marketing.

There are perfectly good economic reasons for why small companies remain small regional players. Small ponds are safer than the big ocean.

07-09-2015, 12:10 PM	#79
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	It is easier to reach 5000 customers in a small country of 9M than reaching 5000 customers in a country of 330M. The marketing costs are out of line with the product's market. That is why Kobo treats the US market as an afterthought. And why their global model is based on relying on local partners doing the bulk of the marketing. To play a global game on eink you need deep pockets willing to live off thin margins. Amazon can do that. Sony couldn't. Asus, Acer, Samsung, and iRiver all bailed out when ereader pricing dropped.There wasn't enough money left on the hardware side to cover the cost of global marketing. There are perfectly good economic reasons for why small companies remain small regional players. Small ponds are safer than the big ocean.