New Kobo: Nia

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by rcentros

It's not that simple. Walmart is supposed to be Kobo's "partner" in the U.S. It was supposed to be through this partnership that Kobo developed a U.S. presence. In the U.S., when you login into Kobo's website or into one of their eReaders, the first choice is Walmart eBooks, not Kobo. And yet Walmart seems to be constantly at the back of the line for getting Kobo eReaders in stock. My guess is that the partnership is somehow strained. Maybe Walmart pays less per Kobo device and Kobo only sells its surplus to them? All I know is that it doesn't seem to fit with the concept of "developing a U.S. presence."

It might not be Kobo's fault.

Sometimes big companies can suffer MPD, with one side of the company setting strategies the other side has no intention of folowing. This is most common when the store managers are judged by raw revenue; they prefer fast moving items.

Another possibility is that whoever agreed to the partnership is no longer with the company.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Part of WalMart's business is inventory control.
Which they do very well: they rarely run out of stock of items that sell, like toilet paper and cheap TVs.

By all reports, Kobos don't matter to the store managers, with stories ranging from unopened boxes lying around empty kiosks to not carrying them.

By all indications, selling Kobos was a HQ idea that most store managers see no use for so they ignore them. Most of those stores also have greatly reduced book sections too. They figure they have better uses for the floor space, maybe selling video games.

There are no longer any Kobos sold in Walmart stores. So what store managers think about them is immaterial. The only Kobos ever stocked and sold in some of the Walmart stores (during this partnership) was the Aura Edition 2, and Walmart cleared those out last December. So store managers are currently completely out of the loop on this. What's baffling to me is that Walmart's online store often doesn't have Kobos to sell. That's a strange "partnership." An odd way to develop a "U.S. presence." Currently the cheapest Kobo Walmart "sells and ships" is the $169 Libra, which you can pre-order for a June 30th shipment. Or you can pre-order a $249 Forma "sold and shipped by Walmart" that is due to be delivered on July 2nd. As for the the Clara, Walmart is selling them for a company called "ElectroCell" for $150 (2 day, free shipping), which is $20 higher than a regularly priced Paperwhite and $60 higher than the Kindle Basic. Right now, Kobo and their "U.S. partner" are completely ceding the low-end market to Amazon.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

It might not be Kobo's fault.

Sometimes big companies can suffer MPD, with one side of the company setting strategies the other side has no intention of folowing. This is most common when the store managers are judged by raw revenue; they prefer fast moving items.

I understand that. I'm just saying the signs don't look good for this partnership. I'm guessing (have no way of knowing) that Kobo is contracted to sell for less to Walmart and, since supply is short, have opted to ship their Kobos to where they can make more money.

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Another possibility is that whoever agreed to the partnership is no longer with the company.

Michael Tamblyn (Kobo CEO) is the one who originally announced the Walmart/Kobo deal, but it probably went higher than him, so you might be right about this. I just expected better.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I understand that. I'm just saying the signs don't look good for this partnership. I'm guessing (have no way of knowing) that Kobo is contracted to sell for less to Walmart and, since supply is short, have opted to ship their Kobos to where they can make more money.

To be honest I never expected anything to come out of it.

It was/is a mismatch: eReaders are a niche low volume product and WalMart is all about mass sales volumes and fast moving merchandise. Besides, WalMart hardly bothers with books anymore. They're not a fit among the cheap MP3 players, laptops, gaming boxes, and tablets except for being electronic. The rest all sell by the million whereas Kobos would be lucky to sell one per store dach day.

I can see why Kobo would want a deal but I never could figure out why WalMart would bother. And as it turned out, the ground staff didn't.

If the deal is dead it is hard to say it ever was alive.

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Meanwhile their "U.S. partner," Walmart, still doesn't have them in stock? Weird.

Not weird, expected. The CEO has stated that Kobo has had extreme volume shortages due to the crisis and a large increase in demand. I would expect Kobo to look over their own storefront before their affiliates.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

To be honest I never expected anything to come out of it.

It was/is a mismatch: eReaders are a niche low volume product and WalMart is all about mass sales volumes and fast moving merchandise. Besides, WalMart hardly bothers with books anymore. They're not a fit among the cheap MP3 players, laptops, gaming boxes, and tablets except for being electronic. The rest all sell by the million whereas Kobos would be lucky to sell one per store dach day.

I can see why Kobo would want a deal but I never could figure out why WalMart would bother. And as it turned out, the ground staff didn't.

If the deal is dead it is hard to say it ever was alive.

I thought Walmart had a decent market share in paper books... and I honestly thought they were serious about using Kobo to help go after Amazon. At least that's the way everyone was talking when the deal was first announced. But Walmart only half-hardheartedly tried. They never even serviced their eBook section, instead allowing contractors to come in once a week to restock straighten the cards. And the contractors seemed to have just mailed it in. I'm thinking now... why bother?

[John F]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I thought Walmart had a decent market share in paper books... and I honestly thought they were serious about using Kobo to help go after Amazon. At least that's the way everyone was talking when the deal was first announced. But Walmart only half-hardheartedly tried. They never even serviced their eBook section, instead allowing contractors to come in once a week to restock straighten the cards. And the contractors seemed to have just mailed it in. I'm thinking now... why bother?

Who paid the contractors, Kobo or Walmart?

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I haven't seen anything but the battery's specs and the fact that there will be an 16 GB microSD soldered on to the board. The battery specs (1,000 mAh battery) and use of a soldered 16 GB (soldered on) microSD matches the Page 2 specs. I use that and the assumption that Kobo will want to compete with the Kindle Basic to assume (not know) that the Nia will probably be Kobo's Tolino Page 2 clone.

For what it's worth, you've sold me on the arguement. It makes the most sense.

One thing I don't understand: Why use a 16GB SD card and then only market it as 8GB?

With their other readers, it says 8GB, because there's an 8GB card in it.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I thought Walmart had a decent market share in paper books... and I honestly thought they were serious about using Kobo to help go after Amazon. At least that's the way everyone was talking when the deal was first announced.

I'm pretty sure that was their intent in the beginning of the partnership.

There was a while there where there were many stories of Walmart wanting to be a direct competitor to Amazon online. That I think was the genesis of the Kobo partnership.

That competition seems to have cooled (at least there are less stories in the news about it).

But Walmart only half-hardheartedly tried.

Yeah, it felt like when the deal was started,there were big plans, but once it was time to implement it, maybe there were internal priority changes at Walmart. (I imagine Walmart to be the laggard. There was every reason in the world for Kobo to want the partnership to succeed).

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

One thing I don't understand: Why use a 16GB SD card and then only market it as 8GB?

With their other readers, it says 8GB, because there's an 8GB card in it.

Kobo did it with the Glo. After it had been out for while, they started appearing with a 4GB card but only used 2GB. The assumption was that the manufacturer ran out of the smaller cards and got a good deal on the larger card. Or just used what they had in hand. Changing the factory image means spending money, both on the actual work to change the image and to change the specs elsewhere. And if the latter is done, they can't go back to the smaller card.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I haven't seen anything but the battery's specs and the fact that there will be an 16 GB microSD soldered on to the board. The battery specs (1,000 mAh battery) and use of a soldered 16 GB (soldered on) microSD matches the Page 2 specs. I use that and the assumption that Kobo will want to compete with the Kindle Basic to assume (not know) that the Nia will probably be Kobo's Tolino Page 2 clone.

I own a Tolino Page 2 - the mainboard looks very different.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by John F

Who paid the contractors, Kobo or Walmart?

I don't know who paid them. I just saw an instruction sheet, telling the store employees how to clear a space and provide electricity for the Kobo display setup. Then it said that one of two (listed) contracting companies would service the Kobo book section weekly. That same sheet mentioned that in April of the next year (2019) they would fully integrate in the Kobos into the electronics department. That obviously never happened. At the time I thought that meant they would be selling other Kobo devices along-side their own tablets. Either they changed their plans or was mistaken about what I read (and guessed from reading).

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I thought Walmart had a decent market share in paper books...

Ten years ago they did.
They and Target had a great big price war with Amazon on new releases in Nov 2009.
More recently most WalMarts have gotten out of new releases and the super WalMarts I go to barely carry any books. Maybe six linear feet.

Things might be different elsewhere but the last nunbers I saw several years back were reporting massive drops in dept store sales. Into non-chain territory, well under 5% combined share.
That's one reason I never expected much to come out of that deal.

Books were once considered traffic generators in dept stores.
In fact, Manhattan publishers big war over discounting (lrading to tge first sale doctrine) was with the big dept stores in NY. Macys and the like. But tbat was 1910.

Dept stores were still significant until the 2009 price war but afterwards, once the numbers came in, most scaled back. Even $9 new releases failed to increase foot traffic. And $9 books were loss leaders. At full retail the profits didn't justify the floor space for most. Some tried ereaders, some tried tablets. These days it's mostly cheap LCD TVs, laptops, and all-in-one desktop packages in the greatly expanded dletronics section.

Look at B&N financial reports over tbe last six years or so and one phrase that invariably shows up is "reduced foot traffic". Books no longer generate customer visits at B&M. Instead they are incidentals: people go by a bookstore (or book stand), have some time on tbeir hands, and something catches their eye.

The number of people purpusefully trolling bookstores for something to buy, anything that might catch their eye, is way down.

And about to go down even more.

If I had been Kobo, instead of partnering with WalMart, I would've cooked up a Kindle Basic class of low end reader. Lighted but low-res, designed to sell for $50-60 and partnered with Hudson news and pharmacies, maybe gas stations and convenience stores. Places were people go and used to buy paperbacks and still buy magazines. Small places where Kobo-generated revenue would be noticed by the manager.

Of course, hindsight being 20-20, that too would've tanked because of the outbreaks.

Key principle holds: Kobo partners need to notice the impact of Kobo sales on their bottom line. That was never going to happen at WalMart, where yogurt sales outpace anything Kobo can muster.

[93terp]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

It was/is a mismatch: eReaders are a niche low volume product and WalMart is all about mass sales volumes and fast moving merchandise. Besides, WalMart hardly bothers with books anymore.

WalMart's customer base isn't what I'd call book/reading enthusiasts.

[Nightflyer]

Originally Posted by 93terp

WalMart's customer base isn't what I'd call book/reading enthusiasts.

Yea, more like book/stealing enthusiasts, maybe can sell them on the other side of town. Or use them to start the fire.

I’m new here and haven’t seen much humor so not sure if attempts at humor are appropriate.