Why is there no e-ink innovation in the USA?

[leebase]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Sorry, are you saying that today, Amazon makes a loss on the sale of every book that is on the NYT list? I know that at one time Amazon sold NYT books at $9.99 or less, but they don't still do so, do they? Isn't that largely what agency pricing was introduced to prevent?

Yes, illegal as it may have been, the publishers and Apple got Amazon to stop...after the damage is already done and nobody can come close to competing.

I like Amazon. I buy my ebooks from them and lots of other things too. I'm a Prime member. I read them on my iPhone and iPad.

I do find it interesting that those who denied the anti-competitive nature of Amazon's business are now defending the lack of competition in this space in the US to ebooks being a niche market. We have competition that compares to the rest of the world in every other manner of electronics...but for ebook readers...we don't.

But don't blame Amazon. Never blame Amazon.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by leebase

Yes, illegal as it may have been, the publishers and Apple got Amazon to stop...after the damage is already done

You say "damage". I say "adjusting to the 21st century".

and nobody can come close to competing.

The BWMs for example have done everything they could to prevent businesses from competing with Amazon.

I do find it interesting that those who denied the anti-competitive nature of Amazon's business are now defending the lack of competition in this space in the US to ebooks being a niche market. We have competition that compares to the rest of the world in every other manner of electronics...but for ebook readers...we don't.

But don't blame Amazon. Never blame Amazon.

Amazon has done nothing to promote anti-competitiveness.
The fact that Amazon does not have a lot of competition is not and has never been their fault.

I am not sure what you are getting at.



As for "defending the lack of competition" -- can we agree to talk about either ebooks or ereaders?
There is essentially no competition (or "innovation" as the title of this thread put it) when it comes to ereaders. There are several competing ereader brands, but they all compete on the storefront and the ebooks.
There is competition when it comes to ebooks. A nice chunk of that is in the tablet ereader market.

[disconnected]

Doesn't the existence of the Kindle Voyage show that Amazon sees enough of a market for a premium device (especially if we see a Voyage 2 this fall)?

If there is a Voyage 2 I hope they'll see a need to add something new to further differentiate it from the PW 3. I never use my Voyage (I probably should have exchanged it at least once to try for a better screen) but I'll most likely break down and order the new version if there is one.

[webroot]

Originally Posted by patrickt

I wonder what innovation people want. Do that want the exciting buttons for turning pages? Would that be innovation. I want to read books. I can't imagine a big innovation ...

I'm admittedly not a technically savvy as some so let me know what innovations we're waiting for.

I must point out OP is not limited to ereaders or how eBooks should be consumed, rather it is evolution of "eink devices" as a whole and what new stuffs can be tried using eink screens.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Why does it matter where the company is based? Onyx don't market their products in the UK any more prominently than they do in the US, but I bought one of their readers online, just as anyone in the US could do.

You've made this point before, and I believe it to be erroneous.

It is an expensive and costly business to ship an Onyx e-reader from to the USA. The shipping is high. And what if there is a problem with the device? Then you ship it back. You might have to pay shipping. Either way, it will take time and money.

And as you have stated, you are "price-insensitive." The risk of losing money on a faulty device shipped from abroad may not bother your budget, but that is not the case for most users.

Shipping from abroad is prohibitive for most people and effectively bars the product for them. I have seen a number of comments to this effect on these forums made by users in America.

So no. The average American user has great difficulty accessing the Onyx device. If you are in Europe, the problem is greatly lessened. Once again, we see a lack of innovation in the American market.

[Phogg]

If shipping is impracticably high from asia, why are so many iPhones and Samsung products sold in the US?

Look on the bottom of any electronic devices you own and see where they were manufactured.

There is a good reason.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by Phogg

If shipping is impracticably high from asia, why are so many iPhones and Samsung products sold in the US?

Because Apple, Samsung et al are shipping them by the containerload, and individual buyers arent't. Not the same thing at all.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by Phogg

If shipping is impracticably high from asia, why are so many iPhones and Samsung products sold in the US?

Look on the bottom of any electronic devices you own and see where they were manufactured.

There is a good reason.

Bulk shipping by companies and single unit orders by consumers are not comparable.

[fjtorres]

Have any of you guys bought asian ereaders throught ebay or Amazon?
Straight from Hong Kong.

Here's one company:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_ss...AN5NOYCSXQETZY

Free shipping.

Takes a couple weeks at most.
Not overly expensive when shopping isn't free.
(I've found UK to US shipping to be more expensive.)

Ebay?
http://www.ebay.com/sch/iPads-Tablet...w=boyue+t62%2B

Ordering from Hong Kong is not much different than ordering from Amazon UK or buying a reader from the Netherlands.
I've done all three.
No. Big. Deal.

There is no shortage of options.
There is so much commercial activity across the pacific it is cheap and easy.

Welcome to the 21st century.
Very different from the 20th.

[howyoudoin]

*never mind*

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

Bulk shipping by companies and single unit orders by consumers are not comparable.

I bought an MP4 flash chip video recorder from Taiwan in 2006. Shipping was less than thirty bucks. Took less than three weeks to arrive.

It's not that horrible.

And, the topic was "Why is there no e-ink innovation in the USA." The answer is still because the USA is no longer a primary electronics manufacturing hub. Innovation largely comes from the production centers.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by Phogg

I bought an MP4 flash chip video recorder from Taiwan in 2006. Shipping was less than thirty bucks. Took less than three weeks to arrive.

It's not that horrible.

And, the topic was "Why is there no e-ink innovation in the USA." The answer is still because the USA is no longer a primary electronics manufacturing hub. Innovation largely comes from the production centers.

Shipping was 30 bucks. What if you needed to make use of the warranty? What if you needed to return it?

It's the little things that add up and make Amazon such an attractive fail-safe proposition.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Rizla

It is an expensive and costly business to ship an Onyx e-reader from to the USA. The shipping is high. And what if there is a problem with the device? Then you ship it back. You might have to pay shipping. Either way, it will take time and money.

And as you have stated, you are "price-insensitive." The risk of losing money on a faulty device shipped from abroad may not bother your budget, but that is not the case for most users.

Shipping from abroad is prohibitive for most people and effectively bars the product for them. I have seen a number of comments to this effect on these forums made by users in America.

So no. The average American user has great difficulty accessing the Onyx device. If you are in Europe, the problem is greatly lessened. Once again, we see a lack of innovation in the American market.

That does not mean the company must be based in the US. Samsung is a Korean company and they seem to have no problem marketing their devices in the US of A.

Just because you live here and want to be able to purchase devices cheaply does not mean you can only buy from US based manufacturers.

Perhaps a better way to phrase the question is "Why do e-ink innovators avoid the USA market?"

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Perhaps a better way to phrase the question is "Why do e-ink innovators avoid the USA market?"

Because as a relatively unknown brand, they would have a hard time competing against Amazon, B&N, and Kobo. It would cost quite a lot to get their name's known in the USA.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

Shipping was 30 bucks. What if you needed to make use of the warranty? What if you needed to return it?

It's the little things that add up and make Amazon such an attractive fail-safe proposition.

At the time there was an effort being mounted in the US to criminalize making back up copies of video. I don't watch that many movies, but when I do I compress them and watch them on a portable device. So I was in a hurry to buy a hardware device for that purpose rather than continue relying on computers software that could have been banned.

Return policies weren't a concern under the circumstances.

Things worked out, and as I grow older I watch even less movies than before.