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I'm not convinced. I am open to smaller companies. I did buy a Gen3, and I have an Astak pocket pro on order. I was satisfied with my Gen3, but don't feel they have kept up. Selling out doesn't tell me anything until I know what their order size is. If I only order one unit, then I can sell out pretty fast.
Their hit or miss on customer service and their problems with software could be symptoms of a company that is short on resources.
Right now, it looks to me like the market belongs to Sony, Amazon, and Apple (the iPod if not eventually the tablet). They have mind share and wide distribution. I know that we all know about Bookeen, Astak, BeBook, and Cooler, but they are not on the radar for the mass market. I know that Amazon is US only, but as soon as they announce European availability they will immediately move to number one in mind share.
In comparison, there were MP3 players for years, but Apple entered and created the mas market. The small players may grow if they have the right content and distribution deals. However, right now I see them as marginal players.
Without strong content and distribution I predict that these second tier players will disappear eventually.
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