Sony Withdrawing from eBook Reader Market Entirely in US

[anthony81]

According to The eBook Reader, Sony are withdrawing from the ebook reader market in the US.

"The final deathblow came sometime this past week when Sony removed the ereader section from their website entirely. Sony appears to be updating their website designagain and now all links to Sony Readers are missing"

http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/201...ntirely-in-us/

[49Kat]

Hmmm, I wonder what that means for the ebook store then? I just got a promotional e-mail from them today.

My first reader was a Sony. I must admit, though, that I don't often buy e-books from them because I can usually find a better price elsewhere.

And although I reside in the U.S. part time, I've only ever purchased from their Canadian store thus far. It just came down to timing.

[Salgueiros]

Another good reason to be european...

[Grace Elliot]

Wow!
My first eReader was a Sony 550 - I was sooooo excited to get it. A nice machine but downloading the books was really clunky and it never quite lived up to expectation so I moved onto Kindles.

[Shopaholic]

I happen to think the blog post is just downright stupid! They guy is claiming the sky is falling because they're not showing the T3, well it's not available in the US so duh!, and that all previous readers show as discontinued. Again, duh! They don't make them anymore so yes, Sherlock, they ARE discontinued.

Slow news day for this guy or what??? sheesh

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

I happen to think the blog post is just downright stupid! They guy is claiming the sky is falling because they're not showing the T3, well it's not available in the US so duh!, and that all previous readers show as discontinued. Again, duh! They don't make them anymore so yes, Sherlock, they ARE discontinued.

Slow news day for this guy or what??? sheesh

There is more to it than that. Just a about a week ago I was interested in seeing what ereaders Sony currently had on offer and so I went to their [United States] site. At the time there was a page devoted to ereaders with the the PRS-T2 listed as out of stock and discontinued and the PRS-T3 listed as coming soon (with an option to be notified by email when it became available). Now as the article linked notes there is no page for ereaders at all on the Sony site.

[ottdmk]

Keep in mind that although the T3 is not available in the US, it *is* available in Canada. It's very strange for a company like Sony to do something like that. It does sound like Sony is repositioning itself in the US market, perhaps even withdrawing as the blogger theorizes.

[anthony81]

http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/201...united-states/

[Shopaholic]

Originally Posted by anthony81

http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/201...united-states/

Reposting the same link doesn't make it true. Just because the T3 isn't being released in the US, which anybody who's interested already knows, doesn't mean they're ditching the US reader division entirely & forever.

[speakingtohe]

My guess (and it is a guess) is they don't have enough stock to sell everywhere. They just arbitrarily picked the US to not sell to.

Helen

[Xanthe]

But now with the ereader section removed entirely and all the previous Sony Readers listed as discontinued, it looks like Sony is leaving the US ebook reader market for good. Some may hold out hope for a new Sony Reader next year and a return to the US market, but not me. Companies don’t pull the plug on something for 1 year just to bring it back the next year, especially a product with a narrow user base that has been in decline for 3 years. I think that this is the end of the Sony Reader, at least in the US.

But Sony has been like the tide with regards to ereaders in the US. They introduce them, then they disappear from the playing field for a few years, then they come back here, then they retreat again. I remember when they came out with the first Reader and only released it in Japan.

They should just stick to creating a well-crafted ereader - which is what they do best - and ditch the Reader Store. Their Store prices have always been higher than any other ebook provider; I know that I've never bought anything from them for any of my Sonys. Maybe that's just USA-centric; I don't know what kind of business they do with it in the rest of the world.

[fjtorres]

Really, it doesn't matter if they are withdrawing or not.
To start with, their ereader distribution in the US has for years consisted of their Sony stores and mall kiosks and a handful of listings with online electronics vendors. You only found them if you went actively looking for them. And few did.
This has resulted in sales that amount to market noise and zero mainstream mindshare.
Except for techies and hobbyists nobody even knows they sell a reader.
Whether they are gone for good or just out of stock makes no difference; the US market has moved in directions that left Sony with nothing to offer.
Tell somebody Sony is dropping out of ereaders and the likeliest reaction will be surprise that they still were in the business.

[anthony81]

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

Reposting the same link doesn't make it true. Just because the T3 isn't being released in the US, which anybody who's interested already knows, doesn't mean they're ditching the US reader division entirely & forever.

I realized the date on that post after the fact.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Really, it doesn't matter if they are withdrawing or not.
To start with, their ereader distribution in the US has for years consisted of their Sony stores and mall kiosks and a handful of listings with online electronics vendors. You only found them if you went actively looking for them. And few did.
This has resulted in sales that amount to market noise and zero mainstream mindshare.
Except for techies and hobbyists nobody even knows they sell a reader.
Whether they are gone for good or just out of stock makes no difference; the US market has moved in directions that left Sony with nothing to offer.
Tell somebody Sony is dropping out of ereaders and the likeliest reaction will be surprise that they still were in the business.

What is zero mainstream mindshare?

Helen

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

What is zero mainstream mindshare?

Helen

Ask your typical US reader who makes ereaders: they'll say Kindle, Nook, and Kobo (maybe). Techies and enthusiasts know Sony makes readers, mainstresm buyers don't. Come shopping time, Sony isn't on their minds.
You can't sell to people who don't know you're selling.