What's Your Prediction - $99 Digial Reader

[elemenoP]

I agree that $99 is the "proper" price point for Kobo, and I hope it will get them sales. But we don't know how much it costs to manufacture them. Are they going to make a profit at this price? I don't think this is going to influence Amazon or B&N to lower the prices of their devices because a) Kobo is a relatively small player and no threat to them and b) the Kindle and Nook have fuller feature sets than the Kobo anyway.

eP

[Kris777]

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=120641

I guess we will see Kindle for $50 soon

[elemenoP]

but that's not the same as lowering the price, that's a sale.

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

but that's not the same as lowering the price, that's a sale.

Sony 350 for $129 with regular cost $179 looks like sale too

[jehane]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

Going back to the Kobo it appears only Borders US have them for $99, Australia they are still $179AUD (given dollar par we are paying an almost 100% premium).

I might sound like a poor Aussie but Amazon sell the Kindle for $139 regardless of where you live and other than the UK don't offer local sale (ie: must buy from the US and have an internationally warranty). Kobo and Jetbooks are available both locally in Aus or internationally from the US at completely different prices (and I assume if I bought either from the US I wouldn't be able to in the event of a warranty claim send it to a local store).

Borders Australia is a separate company from Borders US, so I suspect that until there is serious competition from another store selling e-ink readers they will have no incentive to lower the price. A&R are owned by the same people - REDGroup - as Borders AU, which is why they are selling the same devices. Dymocks, are you listening? Most people still prefer to buy in person rather than online, especially for something they are unfamiliar with or if they think they might want local service.

It has actually improved since Borders/A&R brought the Kobo and Sony to Australia. When I bought my Sony in May, I paid USD149. The exact same model was retailing at a specialist store for about AUD485. The exchange rate at the time was about 1AUD=0.90USD. Last time I looked the Sony Pocket was AUD229 compared to USD129, which still isn't good, but it's better than before.

[mikegetz]

My take on the situation is that $99 is perfect for the Kobo. Yes, it is a little slower than a K3 or a Nook. It isn't nearly as fancy. But, it works, and works well. I got one for my wife, who is a wee bit intimidated by technology. My mom played around with the Kobo last week, and the one thing that she kept bringing up was the SD slot. She wants "a card" in it.

Honestly, after years of trying to hammer in the concept of backing her crap up, i almost cried. She finally understands basic storage media concepts. My wife just knows that when she writes down some book titles, in a few days they wind up on her Kobo.

Yes, i know, i spoil them.

WalMart still lists them @ $129. I'm sending mom to Borders. duh.

[ProfCrash]

It is most important that people buy readers that work for them. It sounds like the Kobo is a great fit for your Mom and you Wife. Good work.

[jbcohen]

Here is the way you deal with the situation Mike:

1) Get a copy of something like Symantec Norton Ghost, or something else that does automatic backups;

2) Hijack her PC for approximatly fifteen minutes;

3) Install the software and configure it for automatic backups.

The software will not ask her to backup the data it will do it in the background and she will never know that its getting done without her concent.

[HamsterRage]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

I agree that $99 is the "proper" price point for Kobo, and I hope it will get them sales. But we don't know how much it costs to manufacture them. Are they going to make a profit at this price? I don't think this is going to influence Amazon or B&N to lower the prices of their devices because a) Kobo is a relatively small player and no threat to them and b) the Kindle and Nook have fuller feature sets than the Kobo anyway.

eP

I'm sure that Kobo figures each reader sold will lead to at least a few, and hopefully a lot, of book sales through their associated web sites. So there may be an argument for selling them below cost for longer term gain.

On the other hand, there have been a lot of eInk readers sold in the past year. My guess is that the costs of the component parts are in free-fall, as the economies of scale kick in. I remember how a 17inch LCD monitor cost about $2,500 ten years ago and I expect the eInk price drop to be even more impressive than that.

[mikegetz]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Here is the way you deal with the situation Mike:

1) Get a copy of something like Symantec Norton Ghost, or something else that does automatic backups;

2) Hijack her PC for approximatly fifteen minutes;

3) Install the software and configure it for automatic backups.

The software will not ask her to backup the data it will do it in the background and she will never know that its getting done without her concent.

no way.

sorry - need to extrapolate on that thought. I am by profession a Desktop Engineer. I package and distribute software, administer an amazing SCCM farm (2 head units and 35 BDP's and growing) with my mentor and best friend, create and deploy desktop and laptop images, and do most of the hardware triage and stuff.

that being said, outside of a corporate environment, i would never pay for an anti-virus or backup solution. I swear by avast, and have for years. it seems to be less trouble to re-image her pc every 9-12 months than to deal with trying to keep it "fixed".

sneaky me, i made a ghost image of her base install and keep it on a bootable 60gb usb hdd. i can have her back up and running in 40 minutes, including patches and the 3 reboots to finalize all the hardware.

I understand the sentiment, and appreciate it, but i am a glutton for punishment. my system works - it keeps anything bad they pick up from getting too deeply entrenched.


and she thinks it's like getting a new PC every year ... lol.

[J. Strnad]

I was waiting for the $99 ereader for years when Kobo came out at $150, which was $110 cheaper than either Kindle or Nook. I bought at that price point and so did a lot of other people. B&N lowered the price on the Nook and Amazon followed suit with the Kindle.

It is indeed a basic reader, but it does the job. I'm worried that their eggs are in the Borders basket, though.

[amward]

Wait until there is an EReader which doesn't tie you into a retailer and can be used in Australia - then watch the local price drop.[/QUOTE]

There is CazMar, it's an Eco reader, available from Central Book Services. It's a Hanlin V3 with Australian software(at least that's what I think my son said). It's pretty basic, no colour, no wifi, but it does have bookmarks and I'm happy with mine. Also supports lots of file formats.

Maybe I mean firmware not software, I'm not very techie.

[coinín]

Dunno if it's the same in the USA, but here in Canada, Kobo is available at both Walmart and Best Buy as well as all the Chapters/Indigo stores.

If they're selling them in multiple chains there the same way they are here, losing Borders won't kill them. It'll bruise them, but not kill them.

[ProfCrash]

My guess is that it will be problematic in the US. Kobo has not developed much of a foothold in the US and losing a large store front for selling the device will hurt. For some reason, Kobo has not made it into Target, Walmart, Best Buy or the like in the US.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by coinín

Dunno if it's the same in the USA, but here in Canada, Kobo is available at both Walmart and Best Buy as well as all the Chapters/Indigo stores.

If they're selling them in multiple chains there the same way they are here, losing Borders won't kill them. It'll bruise them, but not kill them.

Kobo in the US is sold in Borders ($100) and Walmart ($129).