Quote:
Originally Posted by mezzanine
Bigger than the previous paperwhites.
I definitely believe the new paperwhite is going to be disruptive to both the Clara and Libra 2. I feel it out competes both models, in terms of value.
To be fair, I feel it makes amazons own Oasis less attractive, too. Double the price for page turn buttons. In fact, this might be the best argument yet for the possibility we may see an 8-inch Oasis.
Id be curious to know the stats on how many buyers of ereaders spring for the 32gb models relative to the 8gb standard models. I imagine is its a very small % of primarily manga readers. Of all the useless upgrades on the new Kobos, that might be the most useless.
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32GB sounds better than 8GB to many people. Bigger sounds better.
Whether they actually need it or not, it's a good marketing ploy. "our
7 inch model with 32GB storage is cheaper than their smaller screen version with the same storage space." And having 32GB in both the Libra 2 and Sage will definitely make them options that many audiobook users might consider. Given that the lock-in is much tighter with Kobo audiobooks than with their ebooks, the extra storage could well be focused primarily on that market. Grab a first time ereader buyer with extra storage and get them into the Kobo audiobook ecosystem, it could easily work.
As for the percentage of current ereader users who want 32GB, I note that you have no Kobo listed in your profile. So perhaps it's not surprising that you may be unaware of how often the plea for more storage in Kobos has been made here. A micro-niche to be sure, but one that buys a disproportionate number of devices.
Personally I doubt the new Kobos will win many "converts" from Amazon, the ecosystem lock-in is too tight for that. But if Kobo gets its marketing right
(and they do say there's a first time for everything), then I could see the new devices appealing to first time buyers who may previously have bought the standard line that there is only one brand of ereader, Kindle. I also don't think the new Kindle range is appealing enough to win many 'back' from Kobo, because when the specs are matched, Kobo is not more expensive. And of course, the Sage and Elipsa are models that have no comparable Kindle competition