Irish book chain Eason to launch own e-reader later this year

[Top100EbooksRank]

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/ea...ader-year.html

Eason is to launch its e-reader later this year, the Irish bookseller has revealed, as it unveiled its revamped flagship Cork store.

“Eason currently sells a range of e-readers and we have plans to launch our own e-reader later this year.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...319718844.html

Eason now has e-stores in seven of its 38 locations, with free wifi at its Cork, Belfast and O’Connell Street, Dublin, outlets.

Mr Field acknowledged e-books still represented a small percentage of overall sales. The company has said it wants to increase this sector to about 10 per cent of annual turnover. Mr Field said sales of e-books were increasing “almost 10-fold on a monthly basis”.

Last month Eason reported a €5.3 million loss for the year to January 2012 and a 10.7 per cent decline in revenues. The Cork investment is part of a €20 million investment programme over three years.

not sure if this plan is feasible or even true or it is just a bluff to get better bargaining position against the e-readers that Eason is currently selling...

Even Waterstones (much much bigger chain with around 300 stores) admit that it was too late to launch its own e-reader.

[Scott Nicholson]

omg, I hope you don't own stock in these guys...

[kennyc]

Hmmm, pretty late in the game, even Microsnot has moved that direction....

[Fluribus]

The naysayers are obviously unaware of the breakthrough that will allow them to incorporate a digital Guinness tap.

[Jozawun]

Originally Posted by Fluribus

The naysayers are obviously unaware of the breakthrough that will allow them to incorporate a digital Guinness tap.

Is that an Irish joke?

[Top100EbooksRank]

Originally Posted by Fluribus

The naysayers are obviously unaware of the breakthrough that will allow them to incorporate a digital Guinness tap.

isn't there an app for that already?

[SeaKing]

I got to say that some of the comments above would do well on a stand up comedy stage.

On the serious side, why can't they just brand a Kindle or Kobo as theirs, and give some special considerations to people that own them.

For example allow them to read books in the store like Barnes and Nobel.
Or get a 10% discount and access to specials.
It sounds like a fair idea to me, but the question is what will be the bottom line advantage? Will that advantage pay for the costs?

[HighRoadToTibet]

As an Irish resident, I couldn't believe it when I read this. Why a small book-chain such as Eason's is producing it's own e-reader is beyond me. This will surely backfire and be the the final nail in their coffin.

[Bricorn]

Originally Posted by HighRoadToTibet

As an Irish resident, I couldn't believe it when I read this. Why a small book-chain such as Eason's is producing it's own e-reader is beyond me. This will surely backfire and be the the final nail in their coffin.

Most likely it'll be a generic item with Eason's logo on it. We could be seeing a lot of these cropping up.