Quote:
Originally Posted by flyash
Some of the full-sized readers that are good for pdf are pricey. Too pricey for all but some niche markets now that the iPad is out. For example, the Kindle DX is $489 - I'd posit that the market for the DX has shrunk considerably in a market where the iPad can be had for a mere $11 more. That will force prices for the DX lower, and by extension, the lower priced DX will force smaller readers lower. E.g., if the DX is lowered to $400, the Sony 900 at $350 starts looking overpriced. And so on.
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1- There's at least one 10in-class reader on the way coming in at $350; the PB901. It is aimed primarily at the institutional K-12 market with consumer sales as a sideline. If they can build volume up through education sales in Russia, India, Ukraine, and a couple of their other targetted markets, they might provide some pricing pressure on the big readers which, btw, *are* a niche and likely *will* remain a niche. Portability seems to be a big driver on consumer sales and the big readers will suffer there until we get to roll-out/folding screen readers.
2- The iPad looks to be having a more direct impact on ebook reader pricing in two ways; it seems to have "legitimized" in the eyes of the media and pundits the pre-existing slate/tablet format so they don't automatically pooh-pooh the designs for lack of keyboards as they've done for the past 10 years. This in turn seems to be opening the mainstream doors for the color LCD-based Android and WinCE MIDs, tablets, and readers.
3-The iPad also provides a pricing umbrella and an anchor point for those products which will help competitors design and price their products. Already it is becoming clear that competing tablets are going to be coming in in the US$200 range for the 7-8in models and $299-399 for the 9-10in models (depending on Architecture; Android/WinCE webpad/MIDs lower, Atom-based full-PC designs higher). It is the latter designs that PDF fans will likely end up going for since PDF is really meant for paper or, failing that, a full PC. This will likely further reduce the *consumer* appeal of large format readers. I'm sorry for the fans of Skiff and Que but I see a rough road ahead for both.
4- The other "community service" the iPad is providing is pricing cover for ULVCore-based Slate Tablet PCs. It'll be about six months before we see this class of product hit the market (in the $499-699 range with 11in WXGA screens and 9 hr battery life) but they're coming and they are going to eat up a big chunk of the large-format reader market. And that is yet another reason I see little future for Skiff/Que. They are, literally, a year late to market; they were conceived as competitors for the market defined by K2/KDX but will arrive, at best, in a market defined by K3 and iPad. And while we don't yet know much about K3 we do know all we need to know about iPad.