Why Sony discountinued PRS-x50 line?

[Yar-PocketBooker]

My customers often ask me: "why don't you sell Sony PRS-x50 - they are so good!"?

And truth to the matter, I can't give them a correct answer why Sony pulled these great devices from US market...

The version that I heard most is that Sony lost their battle to Kindle pricewise... but hey, they are better therefore, more expensive...

What do yo folks think about this?

[drdann]

I think the truth is they had too many returns of defective merchandise and blamed the owners...

[Tony1988]

Originally Posted by Yar-PocketBooker

My customers often ask me: "why don't you sell Sony PRS-x50 - they are so good!"?

And truth to the matter, I can't give them a correct answer why Sony pulled these great devices from US market...

The version that I heard most is that Sony lost their battle to Kindle pricewise... but hey, they are better therefore, more expensive...

What do yo folks think about this?

They are not making them anymore to make room for the T1. Which will undoubtedly sell here. Pure and simple. Nothing was pulled. All the merchandise from any store I visited sold all of them at regular and clearance prices the last few months.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by drdann

I think the truth is they had too many returns of defective merchandise and blamed the owners...

I think you already started a thread highlighting your problems with your Sony. No need to bring it here as well, surely?

[Phil_C]

I love my 350 and detest Sony's decision to eliminate a 5" model. The 350 fits in most any pocket, is light, and is easy to hold.

Although I like the new T1, I am considering getting a 2nd 350 instead. While that might keep me trapped in the past for a long time, I want to always have the option to carry a 5" reader. I don't see reader manufacturers reducing the screen size going forward. Of course, the overall size of the 6" models may be reduced in future years.

Also, though I am experimenting with fonts for EPUB use, I still find that my absolute favorite font is the 350's Dutch801 default (a seemingly darker version as put out by Book Designer) for LRF. It's looking like the T1 may not support LRF at all. I thought they would at least support it for some time to come. Perhaps they will, but are not advertising that fact?

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Tony1988

They are not making them anymore to make room for the T1. Which will undoubtedly sell here. Pure and simple. Nothing was pulled. All the merchandise from any store I visited sold all of them at regular and clearance prices the last few months.

This is the way I see it too.

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

I think you already started a thread highlighting your problems with your Sony. No need to bring it here as well, surely?

While I sympathize with his plight I have already read about it on two other threads.

[rhadin]

Sadly, they have discontinued the 950. The T1 is almost a replacement for the 950, but not quite, at least as well as I can tell from the information released so far. I paid $400+ for the 950 (that's including the leather cover, shipping, and an extended warranty from Sony) and think it was a bargain. Previously, I had paid close to the same for my Sony 505 (again, including shipping and an extended Sony warranty) and think that, too, was a bargain.

I used the 505 for 3 years -- until the 950 was released and delivered; I preordered it from Sony -- at which time my wife happily took it. She has been using it for several hours every day for nearly a year, and the 505 still works as well as the first day I received it. I've offered to replace it with a newer reader, but she declined. In addition, my son has a Sony 505 that he has been using for 3 years.

Yes, these readers cost more than readers I could have gotten elsewhere, but their performance has been topnotch and they keep on working. The T1 has yet to prove that it will have the staying power of either the 505 or the 950, and while it is a more "modern" reader than the 505, I don't see where it has any big advantage over the 950 with the exception of choice of fonts and additional sizes. I know that lack of font choice has bothered a number of people on MR, but it hasn't bothered me and I'm not sure how much of a selling point that will be to the average reader.

I think Sony should have "updated" the 950 as a premium model, even perhaps as a limited edition model.

[Yar-PocketBooker]

Originally Posted by Tony1988

They are not making them anymore to make room for the T1. Which will undoubtedly sell here. Pure and simple. Nothing was pulled. All the merchandise from any store I visited sold all of them at regular and clearance prices the last few months.

I haven't seen T1 yet in person... and can't be objective about it, but emotionally and subjectively - I don't like it for they had to kill x50 line because of it...))) joking, of course, but I really like all x50 line for many reasons - it sells very well and it works well (for me).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by drdann

I think the truth is they had too many returns of defective merchandise and blamed the owners...

That is not true at all.

[elemenoP]

I agree that it's normal to let stock run out when you have a new model coming out. But I do find it surprising that they chose not to update the 350 and 950. Those are more unique in the marketplace: there are tons and tons of 6" ereaders but not much in other sizes. Maybe the other sizes didn't sell well, who knows.

(oh dear, did I really say "more unique?" Someone shoot me please.)

eP

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

I agree that it's normal to let stock run out when you have a new model coming out. But I do find it surprising that they chose not to update the 350 and 950. Those are more unique in the marketplace: there are tons and tons of 6" ereaders but not much in other sizes. Maybe the other sizes didn't sell well, who knows.

(oh dear, did I really say "more unique?" Someone shoot me please.)

eP

That right there may have been part of the problem. The displays they used really weren't getting used anywhere else (except maybe the Aztak 5" reader). It's completely possible that the per-unit cost of the 5" and 6" models wound up being the same. That's a hard sale.

At least the expectation is that a 7" should cost more than the 6" models, but without any sales numbers, no idea if they were feasible from Sony's perspective. Maybe the 7" tablets are eating into the market for 7" e-ink readers.

Maybe they will come back at some point when Sony can prove that they can remain competitive in a tight market.

[Shopaholic]

Originally Posted by Yar-PocketBooker

My customers often ask me: "why don't you sell Sony PRS-x50 - they are so good!"?

And truth to the matter, I can't give them a correct answer why Sony pulled these great devices from US market...

The version that I heard most is that Sony lost their battle to Kindle pricewise... but hey, they are better therefore, more expensive...

What do yo folks think about this?

....because they made new ones? Perhaps you haven't noticed that when a new model year of a vehicle for exapmple, is released they no longer make the previous model. SOP - Standard Operating Procedure

[vxf]

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

....because they made new ones? Perhaps you haven't noticed that when a new model year of a vehicle for exapmple, is released they no longer make the previous model. SOP - Standard Operating Procedure

Yes, but no other company has the tendency to downgrade their products as often as SONY.

The new PRS T1 is a step-down compared to the 950. Smaller screen, no 3g, separate stylus, no metal casing...

Kind of what they did with the ps3 - stripping down features to make it cheaper and cheaper.

That is what irks people. Replace it with a superior model... no-one will complain. But when you replace it with something which is no better, and arguably worse...

[Kolenka]

The flip side is: If the device isn't selling enough to turn a profit, do you keep producing and selling it?

The masses are buying in the 150$ range, while it would be nice to keep around a niche device, if it wasn't something that sold enough to make a profit, I'd expect a right-minded business to kill that product. If Sony can't make a profit with the T1, then I'd be very surprised they'd even have a shot with a 7" model.

While I admit that Sony has stripped things down, they've also over-engineered those products and priced them out of the markets they are trying to compete in. At least the software side of things continues to evolve even as they have to gut parts of the hardware to make the price points that people are actually buying at.

[Yar-PocketBooker]

Originally Posted by Kolenka

While I admit that Sony has stripped things down, they've also over-engineered those products and priced them out of the markets they are trying to compete in. At least the software side of things continues to evolve even as they have to gut parts of the hardware to make the price points that people are actually buying at.

I sometimes compare Sony PRS line with Mac to PC comparison... yes Macs are overpriced, but they have their market and their fans and buyers... The same with Sonys PRS X50 - they are overpriced but in my humble opinion, if they had them continued, not dis- continued, they would get themselves a line of premuim readers along with the mainstream T1 model...