Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
So there's no reason why the Nia may not be priced less then the Kindle Basic.
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There's the screen, for starters.
Also, which Kindle Basic are you comparing to?
With special deals, with the deals, or the every other month sales?
Products aren't typically priced *solely* on build cost.
Pricing depends on competition, product positioning, product *line* composition, and marketing strategy. Kindles in particular are priced artificially and aligned in a good-better-best lineup where Paperwhite is the intended baseline with a decent baseline, Basic is meant to be a minimal margin product, and Oasis is premium priced low volume reader.
Pricing Nia under Kindle Basic's highest price is easy, pricing it below the lowest would almost certainly be selling at a loss.
Also bear in mind that a lot of people--the majority, actually--choose a bookstore first and the reader second. That's the whole whole point of walled gardens.
Kobo's aren't aimed at Kindle customers.
Very few people with Kindles are going to abandon their investment in Kindle books to save a few bucks. Instead, Kobo readers are targetted at total newcomers, epub believers, and enthusiasts looking for specific features.
People might buy Kobos for their features but most people buy Kindles for the books. So Amazon gets away with less features and smaller margins because they'll make it up on the books. Again, that's the whole point of walled garden, especially in mature markets like the US and UK.
Think about it: Amazon might make $20-30 on a paperwhite sale.
One time.
They can easily make $3 a month of mire on ebooks, for several years. That adds up.
Other than Canada, Kobo can't count on that.
Everwhere else they have to contend with other epub vendors so the can hope to sell ebooks (revenue they need to share with the Tolino alliance and other local partners) but they're not guaranteed.
In fact, as pointed out here regularly, lots of folks buy their readers from Kobo, Nook, Pocketbook, or whatever, and buy at least some books from Amazon.
Every Kobo reader sale has to justify itself upfront. Just in case.
Kindles don't. The only reason you don't see $10 Kindle Basics is because the trustbusters wouldn't like it.
B&N discovered long ago that competing with Amazon on price doesn't pay. If you have a better screen, charge more. If you have lower volume, charge more. If you have better software features, charge more. And if they advertise a higher *list* price, keep quiet.
Because they can always go lower at will.
You do not want another Three Hour Price War.