Quote:
Originally Posted by da_jane
I did hear that the Reader is due for another price drop - to $279.00. I think the price drops signal a new reader coming in.
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It might. It might also signal that Sony is hunting for the Magic Price Point.
They came up with a cool product using a proven (in another industry) business plan. Since this is a new industry, as far as a mainstream product is concerned, there's no prior wisdom to fall back on, so they put the numbers together in a way that might work.
So far they've learned:
1. Most people don't care about it doubling as a DAP
2. Even if they do, they're not interested in yet another online music store.
3. The unit sells okay, but not great, at $350.
4. The unit sells like ice water in hell at or under $100.
4. a. Will people who pay less be willing to spend money in ConnSTORE, allowing it to subsidize the hardware? TBD.
4. b. If people aren't interested in the ConnSTORE content, then the $50 credit isn't an incentive, so try a small price drop and dump the credit ($50 in e-books probably costs them $20-25).
I'm sure they've learned a lot more about the market, but I think these might cover the major points.