Odds of Sony Staying in the Ebook Business?

[luqmaninbmore]

Greetings,

Is it possible that Sony may get out of the eReader game soon? They are primarily a hardware seller; the Sony eBook Store seems to be an accessory for the Reader and not the other way around. The lower prices for the nook, the Kobo, and, I’m sure it will happen soon, the Kindle signify a shift in strategy from selling the razor to selling the blades. Content providers can afford to sell the device at a little above cost if it gets people tied into their ecosystem. Sony simply won’t do it. That, combined with clearance-level prices for the Touch and Daily Editions, makes me wonder if Sony is going to retire from this fight. This makes me a bit anxious to use up my Sony store credits soon. What do you all think?

Luqman

[kjk]

They are actually re-entering the Japanese ebook market.

[fjtorres]

Yeah, but the price war is going to really hurt *them*.

Unlike B&N and Kobo, they don't get to make (much) money of eBook sales.
Either they step up their content game and find a way to make aftersale revenue or their margins are going to take a serious hit.
Yesterday they were price-competitive on a pure hardware basis; today, the new Nook has them back to relying on name recognition/brand-loyalty.

And we have yet to see how nasty (if at all) Amazon is going to get on Kindle pricing.

[EowynCarter]

Well, it seam that right now , sony is my only source for books from some US publishers. So I hope they stay around.

[MerLock]

Hard to say. I don't know many people who own Sony computers and it seems like the market is dominated by HP, Dell , Acer.. etc. in the USA at least, but Sony is still in the computer business.

Apple has proven that something that looks slick and has decent function will sell even if it's a bit expensive. There are other mp3 players out there that don't even have a music store or an app store. So I don't think you need to tie in your device with a media store to stay in business.

I think Sony can stay competitive if they release well built, stylish and versatile readers and not go too far off into the deep end with pricing. The cost of making these readers might also be coming down in price as they are mass produce and the technology is getting older.

One can even look at the cell phone market. There are people willing to dish out money for a certain cell/smart phone model even though they can get a free one with a contract.

[dmaul1114]

My guess is that the price war will see them out of the e-ink/dedicated reader business in the next 2-3 years.

Though I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them take a stab at the Tablet market.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

Though I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them take a stab at the Tablet market.

They said they are *starting* to *think* about it.
And that is today's Sony in a nutshell; followers more than leaders.
More like Acer than Asus, more like the old LG than today's Samsung.
They make electronic products.
What kinds of products?
The same as everybody else.
Usually *after* somebody else has sewn up the market.

Just look at the console business and their answer to Nintendo's domination.
"Me, too", all the way.
Even Microsoft gets it; their answer is riskier, maybe even pricier, but its a clear leap forward that if it succeeds will put the market leader at a disadvantage, just as B&N has today put Amazon at a disadvantage.

Just matching the market leader, a year or more later, is no way to be relevant. So, unless Sony starts leading, they'll be stuck with the other secod tier electronics manufacturers trying to figure why people buy Apple or Amazon or B&N.

Sony is one messed up company right now.

[dorino]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

Though I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them take a stab at the Tablet market.

Does the name "Dash" ring a bell? They already did that.


Now, on there ebook market... the prices will come down, and they'll re-release a 505-esque reader, for 150 or so dollars retail.

And that's all they have to do to stay in the market and continue to be a major contributor!

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

Greetings,

Is it possible that Sony may get out of the eReader game soon? They are primarily a hardware seller; the Sony eBook Store seems to be an accessory for the Reader and not the other way around. The lower prices for the nook, the Kobo, and, I’m sure it will happen soon, the Kindle signify a shift in strategy from selling the razor to selling the blades. Content providers can afford to sell the device at a little above cost if it gets people tied into their ecosystem. Sony simply won’t do it. That, combined with clearance-level prices for the Touch and Daily Editions, makes me wonder if Sony is going to retire from this fight. This makes me a bit anxious to use up my Sony store credits soon. What do you all think?

Luqman

I'm going to have to agree (unwillingly). Sony just don't care enough about their products and especially not the store and I believe they'll probably shift to a tablet computer sooner rather than later. Looks like it'll be a three horse race in the coming years (and after recent talks I've had, I'm even more convinced) between Amazon, Nook (rank outsider) and iBooks. The dream of one e-book standard across all devices is dead on its arse

Odds I'd give are about 1000-1 they stay in. And I'll go even further and give 3-1 that they discontinue their e-ink devices within 2 years.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by dorino

Does the name "Dash" ring a bell? They already did that.

That's hardly a tablet PC type device though.

What I mean is I would be surprised if they didn't put out a 9-12" screen device to compete directly with the iPad and other tablets.

I'm hoping all these 4-7" tablets rolling out become a thing of the past (or a small niche) and we get a slew of 10-12" (or A4 etc.) sized Tablets come out that are closer to being full tablet PCs than the iPad--but don't have the weight, heat and short battery lives of past tablet/slate pcs.

And when that happens, I think Sony will have their Vaio tablets out there to compete.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by dorino

Does the name "Dash" ring a bell? They already did that.

Seriously? That's what Dash is supposed to be?
I thought it was "son of eVilla".

Joking aside, I was giving them credit for trying to reinvent digital picture frames as Info appliances. Something creatively out of left-field is good but not so far out its not even in the ballpark!

Seriously? Somebody at Sony said that was their answer to web tablets?

Not doubting you, okay? Just trying to put bounds on the thinking at planet Sony...

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Well, it seam that right now , sony is my only source for books from some US publishers. So I hope they stay around.

Same for me, so I hope too.

[dsvick]

My problem with Sony right now is the lack of updates. As far as I know since the Daily Edition came out there have been no updates to it, whereas the nook, which is only a couple of months older, has already had several updates.

I got my reader and it does exactly what I thought it would do. And it still does exactly what it did then. If I'd gotten a nook, it would do what I had originally bought it to do, but now it would have a couple of new font sizes, some games, and other additions.

I'm not complaining, but I will say that Sony is missing the boat and my next reader will most likely be something from a company that improves their device occasionally. I understand that Sony wants to sell more readers where as other B & N want you to keep using the nook so you keep buying their books, so it is not an apples to apples comparison, but with the ability to read books on any number of devices there is really no reason for me to not get something that is targeted at a specific store.

[Kali Yuga]

It all depends on something we don't know: How well the Sony readers are currently selling, and if the combined project (hardware + books) is turning an acceptable profit.

Sony may not be getting a lot of media attention right now, but that does not necessarily indicate anything about actual sales, revenues and profits.

Despite the absence of that info, I expect Sony will stay in the business in some form for awhile. As others mentioned, they'll likely put out some tablets, and can leverage their existing ebook store as an enticement.

[Ervserver]

Sony has been in business a long time.......my thought is they know something