E-reader price trend

[menpe]

I follow the scene since forever, even had 0 day purchases before but I don't like the current trend in the industry.

It looks like the low- to mid €200 market slowly died in the last few years. Of course there are the latest and greatest new features with every yearly cycle (with mostly questionable relevance) but the prices went up too. A new 8" device is well north of €300 where the cut-down 10" devices sat in the past.
You might say "Haaa, but there is inflation!" Around 10% since 2015 (based on $, the € is around 6%). The market is much bigger compared to 2015 with many more potential buyers. There was barely any development with the screens lately so R&D shouldn't influence the costs as much as the pioneer devices before.

Instead of the more approachable devices, the companies completely alienating themselves from the average users with €500+ devices with a lot of unnecessary "extras" or direct them towards the low end Kindle market where the freedom of Android is nonexistent.

I hope something will change in the future but right now as Onyx is kinda the only mainstream manufacturer, the chances are low for a competitive market again.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by menpe

I follow the scene since forever, even had 0 day purchases before but I don't like the current trend in the industry.

It looks like the low- to mid €200 market slowly died in the last few years. Of course there are the latest and greatest new features with every yearly cycle (with mostly questionable relevance) but the prices went up too. A new 8" device is well north of €300 where the cut-down 10" devices sat in the past.
You might say "Haaa, but there is inflation!" Around 10% since 2015 (based on $, the € is around 6%). The market is much bigger compared to 2015 with many more potential buyers. There was barely any development with the screens lately so R&D shouldn't influence the costs as much as the pioneer devices before.

Instead of the more approachable devices, the companies completely alienating themselves from the average users with €500+ devices with a lot of unnecessary "extras" or direct them towards the low end Kindle market where the freedom of Android is nonexistent.

I hope something will change in the future but right now as Onyx is kinda the only mainstream manufacturer, the chances are low for a competitive market again.

Take a look at Kobo. They are priced lower then Kindles and they have a lot more features.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Take a look at Kobo. They are priced lower then Kindles and they have a lot more features.

But they don't know anything about the Android freedom required above.

[Markismus]

I agree with the price trend. However, I also see that more refurbished or 2nd chance devices hit the webshops. So a 2nd chance device is actually becoming cheaper than they were a few years ago.

I wanted a reasonable free device with a note taking feature. I settled on a 10" Onyx Boox Note Pro device which was priced down to 485€ from 550€ due to the arrival of the Note 2 series and further priced down to 375€ due to 2nd chance.

I bought it from a Onyx importer that is a few miles from where I live in Holland, but I think it is a general trend. People sent devices back more often. So the marketprice for new devices becomes higher just to cope and the need to sell off returned devices grows.

A Dutch ereader brand even went bust because the return rates were 20% instead of the foreseen 15%. I think it was the brand Icarus, IIRC.*

_______________________
*Nope, they still exist. Maybe it was BeBook or iRex.

[bazz2004]

There's little scope of capturing a significant market share with these devices. Most of us want easy to use which both Kobo and Kindle offer at a decent price. I was surprised by the difficulties I encountered with my Alita and how unfinished it still feels in use.

[menpe]

#JSWolf: ottischwenk already answered this. Kobo devices would be awesome but e-reading for me means Tachiyomi.

#Markismus: I almost bought a device form them when I worked in the Netherlands. Since I returned back home, shipping became a major point to consider due to costs and distance to survive (for the packet of course ). Warranty procedure also a hurdle. Here in Hungary the used market is either nonexistent or basic Kindle only.

#bazz2004: For people who just wants to read e-books, a 6" Kindle is more than enough. Of course they will represent the vast majority of the potential market. My point is that there is a layer between those people and the ultra high-end community. This middle ground looks like a wasteland these years without any noticeable bang for the buck release imo.
The more I think about the problem the more apparent that I want an 8" Poke class e-reader. Keep the fluff, even the charger but the pricing should say "I'm a slightly more expensive Poke" instead of "I'm a slightly cheaper Nova".

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by menpe

The more I think about the problem the more apparent that I want an 8" Poke class e-reader. Keep the fluff, even the charger but the pricing should say "I'm a slightly more expensive Poke" instead of "I'm a slightly cheaper Nova".

It's not the poke class, but in some ways a lot better.
Without scribbling - the Likebook Mars; with Wacom - the Likebook Ares, which like the Nova2 has the sun bug.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by menpe

#JSWolf: ottischwenk already answered this. Kobo devices would be awesome but e-reading for me means Tachiyomi.

Not everyone reads manga.

#bazz2004: For people who just wants to read e-books, a 6" Kindle is more than enough. Of course they will represent the vast majority of the potential market. My point is that there is a layer between those people and the ultra high-end community. This middle ground looks like a wasteland these years without any noticeable bang for the buck release imo.

The more I think about the problem the more apparent that I want an 8" Poke class e-reader. Keep the fluff, even the charger but the pricing should say "I'm a slightly more expensive Poke" instead of "I'm a slightly cheaper Nova"[/QUOTE]

Lots of people on the forum who have tried a 7" Reader have found it a better reading experience to a 6" Reader. While my H2O is only 6.8", it's still better then a 6" Reader. For those people who you say a 6" Reader is enough have not tried 7".

A Kobo Libra H2O is $169 and a 10th gen Paperwhite is $149 (without ads). So going 7" is not much more then 6".

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Lots of people on the forum who have tried a 7" Reader have found it a better reading experience to a 6" Reader. While my H2O is only 6.8", it's still better then a 6" Reader. For those people who you say a 6" Reader is enough have not tried 7".

That very much depends on the intended use.
For on the go, I prefer my Poke 2 (6 inch) to all other devices - it also fits in a shirt pocket.
At home I prefer to read on an 8 inch device.
And for work, I take 10 inches or bigger.
7 inches doesn't fit at all.

[menpe]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

It's not the poke class, but in some ways a lot better.
Without scribbling - the Likebook Mars; with Wacom - the Likebook Ares, which like the Nova2 has the sun bug.

Exactly this segment, the €200-€250 range, disappeared these days. The Mars was a great value device and most of the freshly released 8" devices were positioned to this part of the market 2 years ago. I wrote my rant after I saw the price of the new Nova 3 but the Nova 2 was already over the €300 line without a cut-down version later. Giving more for more money is not exactly the best technological advancement in my dictionary especially when the gains are not even that meaningful.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Not everyone reads manga.

I can only tell about my situation.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Lots of people on the forum who have tried a 7" Reader have found it a better reading experience to a 6" Reader. While my H2O is only 6.8", it's still better then a 6" Reader. For those people who you say a 6" Reader is enough have not tried 7".

I've never said it is the best option but surely is enough. If it would not suffice the needs then there would be no 6" Kindles anymore.
I use my 8" device for light novels, barely any different for me than my first 6" Nook. If somebody gets annoyed by the more frequent page turns, then that's their use case.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by menpe

Exactly this segment, the €200-€250 range, disappeared these days. The Mars was a great value device and most of the freshly released 8" devices were positioned to this part of the market 2 years ago. I wrote my rant after I saw the price of the new Nova 3 but the Nova 2 was already over the €300 line without a cut-down version later. Giving more for more money is not exactly the best technological advancement in my dictionary especially when the gains are not even that meaningful.

?
The Mars costs € 225

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by menpe

Exactly this segment, the €200-€250 range, disappeared these days. The Mars was a great value device and most of the freshly released 8" devices were positioned to this part of the market 2 years ago. I wrote my rant after I saw the price of the new Nova 3 but the Nova 2 was already over the €300 line without a cut-down version later. Giving more for more money is not exactly the best technological advancement in my dictionary especially when the gains are not even that meaningful.



I can only tell about my situation.



I've never said it is the best option but surely is enough. If it would not suffice the needs then there would be no 6" Kindles anymore.
I use my 8" device for light novels, barely any different for me than my first 6" Nook. If somebody gets annoyed by the more frequent page turns, then that's their use case.

If you do want a 6" Reader, the Kobo Clara HD is cheaper then the PW4 (with ads). Kobo just has better prices then Amazon.

[menpe]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

?
The Mars costs € 225

2 years old technology without any discount. This segment won't see any improvement anymore with one old-ish device in it.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you do want a 6" Reader, the Kobo Clara HD is cheaper then the PW4 (with ads). Kobo just has better prices then Amazon.

Thank you for your feedback, but please let this thread go without your Kobo mantra. As I said before, a device without Android could be free, it would not be useful for me. That's why I wrote to the Onyx topic, not the Kobo or the general topic.

[JSWolf]

What's the minimum version of Android does the app you want to use to read manga need?

[Galunid]

Thank you for your feedback, but please let this thread go without your Kobo mantra. As I said before, a device without Android could be free, it would not be useful for me. That's why I wrote to the Onyx topic, not the Kobo or the general topic.

In that same manner, this shouldn't be Onyx topic, since you're discussing eink devices in general. That's kind of hypocritical if you ask me

But to answer your original post:
With onyx devices we are talking mostly about eink tablets. Lenovo TAB 4 8 Plus 64GB that has identical CPU as Nova 2 and same amount of RAM is ~20$ cheaper than Nova 2, at least in my country. To be fair, I don't think eink devices are overpriced. Personally I'd rather get a decent device that works out of the box and I don't have tinker with it too much, than something for half the price, where I have to spend days getting things to work. That's why Kindle is one of the main competitors in the ereader market. They make solid device that "just works". That's why people are willing to pay for "premium" devices. In the end you can charge as much as you want, as longs as there are people willing to pay that price, no?

P.S
If you want android on Kobo, you can check out Tolino devices, since the only difference between the two is that Tolino runs android.