Quote:
Originally Posted by CommonReader
If Sony can't sell their readers in the US because the market is dominated by cross subsidized readers then perhaps they should just abandon the US market and concentrate on more attractive markets.
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I think they are and they have. Sony has stopped shipping all models of the Reader to their retailers. It has completely liquidated the retail channel (or was pushed out of it). It cannot make an effort to satisfy the demand even through its own online store. And it totally stopped the production of most required accessories. I am sorry to say this, but the situation has all the signs of a product line that is being discontinued. There is absolutely no reasonable explanation for the "shortages" of the Sony Readers and accessories. Unless the entire production volume is directed toward satisfying the huge demand in a particular profitable part of the world (Japan?) such a disregard towards the Western (and especially U.S.) market cannot be justified.
I am not sure which markets Sony might consider more attractive or important than the U.S. market. I wonder if the demand for readers and accessories is being satisfied in the retail channel still remaining in Europe. At introduction the Reader famously was a major hit in Japan, but I don't know if it is still a hot commodity there. And 950 was never released outside the U.S.
I've been a fan for a few years, having bought the PRS-500 when it first came out. I've owned all models of the Sony Readers. The impending demise of a great product that was in many regards a technology and innovation leader is rather sad and puzzling for me. After a couple of years of misses 2010 brought a major hit - the combination of Pearl screen and UV touch. Hard to believe that the accountants in Sony declared this hit a failure.
Today the U.S. market is flooded by technologically similar kindles, nooks and kobos. I guess, sooner or later I am going to pick one of the other brands and move on.