01-18-2011, 05:42 AM | #1 |
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Will prices of readers drop in 2011?
Greeting all e-reader fans,
how do you expect the prices of major readers like those from SONY and Amazon are going to develop this year? Are there some new models from SONY or new Kindle expected? Or is it possible that Kindle 3 is aiming at 99$ threshold later this year, which SONY would hopefully follow with its 5" device? It seems to me that with all that tablet humbug on CES, e-readers are slowly fading away. I'm the proud owner of old 505 and considering some touchscreen model like 650, but the prices of SONY devices seems unreasonably high (comparing with the Amazon devices or the others). Are there any pre-releases on new stuff? |
01-18-2011, 05:44 AM | #2 |
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Moderator Notice
This is not "News". Moved to the "General Discussions" forum. |
01-18-2011, 10:36 AM | #3 |
Evangelist
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I think some price reduction is likely, but probably minimal $10-$20. We may see more promotional sales at lower prices, like we did with the $99 Nook on Black Friday and the refurb Nook sales.
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01-18-2011, 10:57 AM | #4 |
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Unless I'm missing something gigantic e-reading devices are basically like video game systems (ignoring the current Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo generation, that is!). Constant improvements in hardware and software will necessitate elevated prices while a premium will almost always be expected for the device even though overall price trends may seem to dip or at least remain stable.
You paid 200 dollars for a Sega Genesis and SNES when they came out and you still pay in that range (including adjustments for inflation things aren't so bad really and the trend has been slightly lower) these days for the new stuff in spite of everything. Things do come down (look at computers, right?) but there are such things as stability points and it can be remarkably hard to know when we have hit one and when we are still in search of one. |
01-18-2011, 11:00 AM | #5 |
monkey on the fringe
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The Kobo is currently $100 at Borders.
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01-18-2011, 11:12 AM | #6 | |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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Quote:
I also expect Amazon to have a colour Kindle sometime this year, but that might be up to $299. |
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01-18-2011, 11:19 AM | #7 |
monkey on the fringe
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01-18-2011, 11:25 AM | #8 |
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01-18-2011, 12:21 PM | #9 |
Wizard
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By next Christmas, I think b&w wifi-only Kindle, Nook, and Kobo will all be $99. Sony's next round will probably be the same as this round, except with wireless... and the new models will be priced the same as what the 350/650 are now. Since the 950 already has wireless, I don't know how they will make a new model of that one.
eP |
01-18-2011, 03:51 PM | #10 |
Canucklehead in Malaysia
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My best guess would be that there will be a drop, how big will depend on current technology improvements. From what I understand the biggest expense in an e-reader is the screen and if thats the case then we will only see a drop when either the number of screens sold makes a huge jump or they come up with a new screen technology.
The price of the TTF screened devices has dropped in the last year or so and this is likely due to the screens being cheap. |
01-18-2011, 05:00 PM | #11 |
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When sales drop off, so will the price.....
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01-18-2011, 06:00 PM | #12 | |
Lucifer's Bat
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01-18-2011, 06:21 PM | #13 |
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My expectations are that:
Wifi-only eink readers will hit US$99 by summer. Cellular wireless models will hit US$159. Large format eink will hit $259. LCD-based readers and webpads will run $99-199 depending on the touch screen. Amazon won't put the Kindle name on anything with an LCD screen. 50 regional vendors will announce 200 readers and tablets, ship maybe 40, and together get 4% market share. Sony will do about that well. |
01-18-2011, 06:22 PM | #14 |
Book Geek
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Most new technology is expensive when it first arrives, but eventually competition drives it down to a price level where manufacturers make a reasonable profit and it stays there for a long while. My guess is about $80 US. But by then there is a shiny new gadget to soak up our dollars.....
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01-18-2011, 07:58 PM | #15 |
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My concern is that manufacturers, rather than continuing to lower the price of their basic model, will discontinue that model; and instead offer more fancy models at the same price level.
I see that level to be $85 in the next year, two max. |
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