MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - SONY officially introduces the new line "Reader WIFI" @ $149 asking price

ProfCrash · 09-01-2011, 11:35 AM

K1's and K2's had long periods of times, months, where they were not available. The K3 had a period of time where it was hard to find in Europe.

This move indicates that Sony stands to make more money selling a larger number of readers at a lower price. Which is something that a lot of people on this board and other boards have been shouting for a long time. The occassional outage of Sony readers means that Sony was not good at projecting sales and did not stock enough e-readers. There have also been times where they were sold out because the e-readers went on sale and dropped to more reasonable prices. Kind of like the HP Tablet.

I have a feeling that the change in material and the lack of the others sizes is going to annoy a decent number of Sony's current members since most of the Sony fans I know have touted the metal casing, lack of WiFi, and the 5 and 7 inch screens. But the price drop and addition of WiFi brings the Sony more in line with the Nook and Kobo.

Realisticly, the Sony is still priced to high to compete with the Nook and Kobo. People who read bad reviews regarding the Kobo can look at the Sony and the Nook. Both do the same things, Nook reads books from more stores and costs $25. Why buy the Sony?

I think they are banking on the Harry Potter tie in. While I am sure the Harry Potter e-reader will do well I have a feeling that it is not going to be that big of a deal. Unless they do what Apple did with the U2 IPod, load all the books on the device, then I don't see too many parents going "Sure we will buy you a $140 electronic device that you are only going to use to read books that you already own in paper back not to mention the movies." Frankly, I don't see too many adults who are huge Harry Potter fans buying a themed e-reader just because it is Harry.

There will be a good number but I doubt that number is going to be as large as some folks are thinking. It might be that people who are thinking of an e-reader and are Harry Potter fans will pick up the Sony HP e-reader but I can't see a Harry Potter fan who is normally not interested in an e-reader buying one.

09-01-2011, 11:35 AM	#49
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	K1's and K2's had long periods of times, months, where they were not available. The K3 had a period of time where it was hard to find in Europe. This move indicates that Sony stands to make more money selling a larger number of readers at a lower price. Which is something that a lot of people on this board and other boards have been shouting for a long time. The occassional outage of Sony readers means that Sony was not good at projecting sales and did not stock enough e-readers. There have also been times where they were sold out because the e-readers went on sale and dropped to more reasonable prices. Kind of like the HP Tablet. I have a feeling that the change in material and the lack of the others sizes is going to annoy a decent number of Sony's current members since most of the Sony fans I know have touted the metal casing, lack of WiFi, and the 5 and 7 inch screens. But the price drop and addition of WiFi brings the Sony more in line with the Nook and Kobo. Realisticly, the Sony is still priced to high to compete with the Nook and Kobo. People who read bad reviews regarding the Kobo can look at the Sony and the Nook. Both do the same things, Nook reads books from more stores and costs $25. Why buy the Sony? I think they are banking on the Harry Potter tie in. While I am sure the Harry Potter e-reader will do well I have a feeling that it is not going to be that big of a deal. Unless they do what Apple did with the U2 IPod, load all the books on the device, then I don't see too many parents going "Sure we will buy you a $140 electronic device that you are only going to use to read books that you already own in paper back not to mention the movies." Frankly, I don't see too many adults who are huge Harry Potter fans buying a themed e-reader just because it is Harry. There will be a good number but I doubt that number is going to be as large as some folks are thinking. It might be that people who are thinking of an e-reader and are Harry Potter fans will pick up the Sony HP e-reader but I can't see a Harry Potter fan who is normally not interested in an e-reader buying one.