Kobo launchng hardware? Not soon.
https://publishingperspectives.com/2...erspectives%29
Quote:
For example, he says, Kobo was accustomed to its factories in China and Taiwan coming to a halt in production during the annual Chinese new year celebrations in January. That, Black Friday in November, and the week leading up to Christmas, he says, are the key tech-industry “high holidays” that normally can affect production and operations.
But of course, this year, the Chinese new year—which he calls “doubly important” because factories close completely in China and Taiwan—was different. “Because everybody who left for new year to go home and visit their families, Tamblyn says, “didn’t come back. For the first time in living memory, the new year holiday at the end of January was extended by a week.” As Wuhan and other zones would become locked down and factory production halted, companies like Kobo were faced with new difficulties in supply.
“How long would it be before we could make new e-readers?” was the question, Tamblyn says.
By February’s end, the company’s manufacturers were back to about 50 percent of capacity. But they had to think about what would happen if Canada, where Kobo is situated, also came under lockdown. Tamblyn had made a trip to Milan to visit Italian partners and left only shortly before the shutdown of northern Italy had begun.
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More at the source.
Note that Kobo isn't the only customer of their manufacturing partners, quite a few of which are larger and have higher priority. And within Kobo many of their regions are bigger markets and bigger priorities than the US. At 50% capacity a two month shutdown means a 4 month delay to the output pipeline. The Nia was announced in March so if it was due by Mother's day is may not show up until August-Sept.
The new reader will show up, probably in limited quanties, someday. Real Soon. Now.