MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Why Ereader Companies Shouldn't be Worried

rwizard · 01-29-2010, 02:52 AM

I think the iPad is the beginning of the end for the traditional ebood reader. Whenever a convergent device does a "good enough" job at something a dedicated device does at a competitive price, the majority of people gravitate towards those devices. An example of this would be the PDA. Currently HP is the only manufacturer of a dedicated PDA at this time as far as I know (some might argue that the iPod touch could also fit into this catagory). Other than that, all PDA's are cell phones. This is not because they are superior PDA's (hp's business class PDA has a 640x480 screen and slots for SD and CF expansion cards for instance). It also is not because no one sees a reason to have a seporate PDA. It is because the percentage of the market that would want one when they could just have their phone do the job is to small. Dedicated ebok reading devices have always been a niche market and will be more so as more devices come out that will fill majority of users needs for ebook reading and do other things besides.

The current iPad by itself will not displace dedicated ebook readers that are of the 6" and smaller variety; however, it and any clones that may come out will likely decimate the large form factor ebook reader segment in the next couple of years. This is regardless of whether they use screen technology similar to apples or use new screen technologies that are currently trying to come to market. It probably will not be long before at least the iPad clones come out with a 6" device (apple may even come out with this by next year if they think there is enough of a market for it). At that point the 6" or less ebook readers will have something to be worried about.

All of the above being said, I hope some of the new screen technologies get a chance. I say hope because Apple, in an uncharacteristic move for them, has set a relatively low price point for the new device. Consequently, any new device is going to need to be competitive with this price, which makes new tech harder to implement and still turn a profit.

01-29-2010, 02:52 AM	#61
rwizard Connoisseur Posts: 63 Karma: 366 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Utah Device: iPhone, waiting for reviews on the Notionink Adam	I think the iPad is the beginning of the end for the traditional ebood reader. Whenever a convergent device does a "good enough" job at something a dedicated device does at a competitive price, the majority of people gravitate towards those devices. An example of this would be the PDA. Currently HP is the only manufacturer of a dedicated PDA at this time as far as I know (some might argue that the iPod touch could also fit into this catagory). Other than that, all PDA's are cell phones. This is not because they are superior PDA's (hp's business class PDA has a 640x480 screen and slots for SD and CF expansion cards for instance). It also is not because no one sees a reason to have a seporate PDA. It is because the percentage of the market that would want one when they could just have their phone do the job is to small. Dedicated ebok reading devices have always been a niche market and will be more so as more devices come out that will fill majority of users needs for ebook reading and do other things besides. The current iPad by itself will not displace dedicated ebook readers that are of the 6" and smaller variety; however, it and any clones that may come out will likely decimate the large form factor ebook reader segment in the next couple of years. This is regardless of whether they use screen technology similar to apples or use new screen technologies that are currently trying to come to market. It probably will not be long before at least the iPad clones come out with a 6" device (apple may even come out with this by next year if they think there is enough of a market for it). At that point the 6" or less ebook readers will have something to be worried about. All of the above being said, I hope some of the new screen technologies get a chance. I say hope because Apple, in an uncharacteristic move for them, has set a relatively low price point for the new device. Consequently, any new device is going to need to be competitive with this price, which makes new tech harder to implement and still turn a profit. Last edited by rwizard; 01-29-2010 at 02:55 AM.