06-08-2011, 01:36 AM | #61 | |
Can one read too much?
Posts: 2,015
Karma: 2487799
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Naples, FL
Device: Kindle PW 3, Sony 350 and 650
|
Quote:
|
|
06-08-2011, 01:49 AM | #62 | |
Evangelist
Posts: 434
Karma: 346901
Join Date: Dec 2010
Device: SONY PRS-650
|
Quote:
This bit of appoligism is commonly used to excuse Sony's lack of competitivness, but it's just SILLY. Having seen pre-loaded disposable cell phones selling for $20 and NON-'subsidized' 7 inch Android tablets selling for as little $99, it's pretty hard to believe that either B&N, Amazon, or Kobo is losing money on their readers. And if Sony ran their Reader Store better, they could have had the same 'cross subsidy' advantages as Amazon. They just blew it. |
|
06-08-2011, 02:18 AM | #63 |
Maratus speciosus butt
Posts: 3,292
Karma: 1162698
Join Date: Sep 2009
Device: PRS-350
|
I, too, doubt that anyone is selling their readers at a loss.
|
06-08-2011, 03:30 AM | #64 | ||
Blueberry!
Posts: 888
Karma: 133343
Join Date: Mar 2007
Device: Sony PRS-500 (RIP); PRS-600 (Good Riddance); PRS-505; PRS-650; PRS-350
|
Quote:
So you can bet people like myself are replying. It's not about being afraid of "losing," but about fixing factually incorrect statements, and addressing improper cause-and-effect speculation. For example, the thread's opening cited Sony's big loss, and immediately went on to imply (incorrectly) the Reader played a role in said loss, and then speculate that competition is destroying the Reader. There was no factual information offered whatsoever to establish cause and effect. And, indeed, facts go against some of the claims outright. Quote:
The PRS-650 was in shortage very quickly upon release. In December 2010, Sony sold out and said it would not be available until March. (I did not follow up if/when the shortage ended.) This thread speculates shortages are due to the late-May released Kobo and Nook, even though that's well after any shortages began. Even the comment I replied to said Sony could not keep them in stock online, failing to note that that the PRS-650 Red is in stock now. The PRS-350 stock remains abundant, available at every online seller I checked: Sony, Target, Buy.com, Sears, Best Buy, Amazon Marketplace, etc. Heck Best Buy even has the PRS-350 for $119 online. From my list above, which retail channels were given up? Target's not selling them in-store, but they still sell them. And Best Buy actually expanded their Reader sections. All accessories, except one cover, are in stock on Sony's site. So which of these were discontinued? The update question was already answered (and that even ignores the PRS-500 hardware update last November). So the reader "seems to be going down hill," but you base that conclusion on information that is entirely factually incorrect! As I said, a reply like this is not "apologism," it's correcting misinformation, and making sure people understand that predictions of the Sony Reader's demise are spawned from falsehoods. -Pie |
||
06-08-2011, 07:21 AM | #65 | |||
Fanatic
Posts: 556
Karma: 1057213
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: North Eastern U.S.
Device: Sony Reader
|
Quote:
The rumors about "Pearl display shortage" have been circulating since last fall, and they are patently untrue, judging by the mass market availability of kindles and now nooks. Quote:
Quote:
Perhaps you could explain to me, where are the covers? Make something up that makes sense! |
|||
06-08-2011, 07:43 AM | #66 | |
Fanatic
Posts: 556
Karma: 1057213
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: North Eastern U.S.
Device: Sony Reader
|
Quote:
The retail channel is tricky. You may have some stock in Alabama or Montana and no stock in New Jersey and Maryland. So one could argue that Sears and Best Buy still have readers in stock. But not around where I live. And they are not coming either. And which is the most required and important accessory? In fact, which accessory is absolutely necessary for the safety of a device such as an ebook reader? Are those covers so hard to produce? Were they being manufactured at a plant that was washed away by the tsunami? |
|
06-08-2011, 07:49 AM | #67 |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
But that doesn't mean that SONY aren't experiencing a shortage of displays. Given the fact that screens have a single source of production, and that reader manufacturers probably have to bulk-order months in advance, it's certainly possible - likely, even - that Sony badly miscalculated the number of screens they'd require, which has resulted in a shortage for them.
|
06-08-2011, 08:18 AM | #68 | |
Zealot
Posts: 116
Karma: 960
Join Date: Feb 2011
Device: PocketBook 360
|
Quote:
Saying they subsidize their ereader sales doesn't mean they are selling them at a loss. It means, that they are sellingthem at a MUCH smaller margin, and that they can afford to because of the subsidies provided by the e-book sales. If their delivered cost is $100, then they can afford to sell them at $139, if they assume an average of $150 in book sales over the life span of the machine. If Sony's cost is $100, and they can NOT count on e-book sales to help subsidize, they can NOT afford to sell it at $139 and remain viable. |
|
06-08-2011, 09:06 AM | #69 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 9,707
Karma: 32763414
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Krewerd
Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
|
Quote:
If Sony would stop making readers, I'm not sure we could get a pearl'd reader in Europe that can epub... |
|
06-08-2011, 09:25 AM | #70 |
Lucifer's Bat
Posts: 2,536
Karma: 19491715
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Earth/Berlin
Device: Kobo Libra 2
|
Sony is said to be no. 3 in the US and no. 1 in Europe and Russia.
Why should they stop selling their readers, when they dominate the developping markets? Also their readers have been constantly in stock at the US SonyWebStore since the end of April. So who can't buy their readers? The next charge of supply is coming to the German SonyStore at the End of July. This is what I was told by their CS yesterday. Does that sound like a company stopping to manufacture them? |
06-08-2011, 10:40 AM | #71 | |||||
Blueberry!
Posts: 888
Karma: 133343
Join Date: Mar 2007
Device: Sony PRS-500 (RIP); PRS-600 (Good Riddance); PRS-505; PRS-650; PRS-350
|
Quote:
In terms of the stores I cited, please do a search. The only reader that cannot be easily had right now is the Black PRS-650. All the others are available on Sony's site, along with accessories. Similarly, my claims about Target, BB, etc. are all true. I forgot about Borders, but they filed for Bankruptcy. We are both speculating. The Reader will be discontinued. The Reader will not be discontinued. The difference between us is that I am proceeding from verifiable factual information right now. Oh, and I have owned every generation of Reader, including the horrible PRS-600... so I think in terms of the "appealing to authority" fallacy, we are at an impasse. Quote:
Right now, every reader but the Black PRS-650 is available at Sony Style, among other retailers I listed. Quote:
As is very well known, Kindle does not release numbers. However, I agree that the Kindle is the de-facto best selling eReader on the market. It's actually becoming branded, as almost everyone calls my Reader a "Kindle," even though they know it's not an actual Kindle. Any sales analysis I have seen from mid-and-late 2010 say that Nook is the #2 seller. One site had Sony at #4 behind some other unknown company, so I suspected they had some spurious results, but generally Sony is #3 in most speculations. Quote:
And once again, Sony does not "appear to have deemed the Reader a failure." I still offer my previous examples are evidence. Quote:
-Pie Last edited by EatingPie; 06-08-2011 at 10:46 AM. Reason: Various corrections. |
|||||
06-08-2011, 10:46 AM | #72 |
Nameless Being
|
I think the key point on much of this discussion is that Sony appears to be pulling out of the USA market, or at least cutting way back. Sony might continue with the 350 (though I doubt it) and kill the 650 and 950 here in the USA. The 650 has always been difficult to find in stock and the 950 is obviously becoming very difficult to buy. Just because an online store lists them as being in stock doesn't mean they are. Best Buy often lists items you cannot consistently find in their local stores. Regardless, Sony is NOT going to have terrific sales figures without their readers being sold through local retail stores. If a consumer goes into a local retail store like Best Buy or Target or whatever and sees Kindles, Kobos, Nooks, iPads, a gillion cheap Android tablets listed as ereaders, etc., but no Sony, then the consumer is not likely to buy a Sony. How could they? Sony rarely advertises their readers, so how will the typical consumer even discover that Sony readers are an option in the USA market. To think that the typical American consumer is represented by this forum is pure fantasy. We here know about Sony readers, but the typical American consumer does not.
I do think Sony might concentrate now on other markets around the world where they do have a huge share of the market, but it looks as though Sony is pulling out of the USA market. |
06-08-2011, 10:52 AM | #73 |
Lucifer's Bat
Posts: 2,536
Karma: 19491715
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Earth/Berlin
Device: Kobo Libra 2
|
Or they just direct their momentary supply to maintain their superior position outside the USA to those markets and re-enter the US with the next generation.
|
06-08-2011, 10:56 AM | #74 | |||
Blueberry!
Posts: 888
Karma: 133343
Join Date: Mar 2007
Device: Sony PRS-500 (RIP); PRS-600 (Good Riddance); PRS-505; PRS-650; PRS-350
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
And just to be clear once again, I cited the tsunami in reference to Sony claiming it was due to their financial losses this year. It's not something I personally find tasteful to joke about. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=13662877 -Pie |
|||
06-08-2011, 11:07 AM | #75 | |
Blueberry!
Posts: 888
Karma: 133343
Join Date: Mar 2007
Device: Sony PRS-500 (RIP); PRS-600 (Good Riddance); PRS-505; PRS-650; PRS-350
|
Quote:
Let me just address one thing: stock. Sony, for example, lists stock accurately. If it's in stock, it's in stock. To say "just because it's in stock doesn't mean it's in stock" is wrong. Especially with modern inventory tracking. And I have never ever had an item from BB say "in stock" and be out of stock (that's why they have an "out of stock" indicator!). But you claim if it says in stock, it's not? You realize all five places I cited would then have to be wrong on stock indication? And this is how you support your claim that Sony is leaving the US market? I am, honestly, surprised that nobody seems concerned with the actual market, and are happy to make predictions without any evidence. I mean, even something as easily verifiable as availability is just tossed to the wind. Why is this? -Pie Last edited by EatingPie; 06-08-2011 at 11:13 AM. |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
pdf with split words at end of line - how best to convert | cybmole | Calibre | 8 | 10-19-2010 08:27 AM |
Stop line wrapping at quotes at the end of a paragraph | sherman | ePub | 6 | 05-13-2010 02:52 PM |
Denial of Service 5: End of Line. | Steven Lyle Jordan | Writers' Corner | 19 | 11-10-2009 10:58 PM |
New e-readers will end black and white era | yagiz | News | 45 | 06-05-2009 12:52 PM |
Jinke reveals upcoming product line of E Ink e-book readers | Alexander Turcic | HanLin eBook | 20 | 06-03-2007 03:58 PM |