2010 was supposed to be the year of the eReader. Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's nook, the Sony Reader, Plastic Logic Que, Spring Design Alex, and others were all headed for a battle royale. It was to have been mono-eReader y mono-eReader, with the clear winner of such a battle ultimately being the consumer as prices were forced beneath $100. But while the prices of the most popular eReader devices have come down, the variety in eReaders has been anything but prolific. Blame the iPad. I predicted (along with about everyone else on the planet) that Apple's tablet was a game-changer for the eReader space. Never mind that it isn't a dedicated device like Amazon's Kindle. It's still an eReader, just with a whole lot more capability.
When the iPad debuted, many people were surprised by the initial price point of $499 (for the wi-fi only version). What this immediately did was draw a line in the sand for anyone thinking of manufacturing an eReader and gouging customers with prices up to $800 (Plastic Logic planned such a price point for it's Que eReader). It also made it difficult for some companies to turn a profit given the cost of manufacturing. iRex Technologies, maker of the Digital Reader line of eReading devices, for example, recently filed for bankruptcy due to poor sales of its devices. iSuppli, which did a manufacturing cost-analysis of the Kindle 2, priced the cost to build the device at about $180. With the Kindle now selling at that price, it's fair to say Amazon's eReader is now a loss leader, with the real profits coming out of the sale of content.
So where does all of that leave the current market? The clear winners at this point are Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's nook, and Apple's iPad. The Sony Reader might be up there with that trio, but I seldom hear or read anything about the Reader anymore, so I can't say if it's in the running or not. The truth is that each company is fairly secretive regarding sales figures or units sold, making it difficult to know for sure who is "winning". I do know that Apple claims they've sold three million iPads in 80 days, Kindle sales 'allegedly' exceeded three million units through the end of 2009, and nook sales have been "strong". Sony made a claim back in 2008 that they'd sold 300,000 units, but that figure is so old as to be irrelevant (the figure is irrelevant, too, when compared to the 3 mil. units sold of either the iPad or Kindle).
Considering that the Kindle was once priced at $499 and has since gone through several rounds of price cuts since, it's clear that competition is a good thing (at least for consumers). But only as long as some of the players survive. There was early speculation that Apple would move quickly to cut iPad prices if sales were not encouraging enough. Apparently, they have been, since the pricing remains steady. But just like Kindle ushered in a field of challengers, so to has the iPad sparked a new level of competition, with new Android-based tablet devices coming out from Asustek, Micro-Star, Dell, Cisco, Google, and others.
This makes me wonder if we aren't seeing the beginning of the end for the dedicated eReader. If nothing else, it's fair to say the larger version of the Kindle, the Kindle DX, is on its way out.
On a personal level, none of this changes the enjoyment I get out of my Kindle. But after having attended a company tech conference recently and seeing several of my colleagues carrying iPads, I have begun to look at the devices a bit more seriously. Prices will come down (they always do), so whether you're in the market for a dedicated device or one of the new or soon to be released tablets, it's a great time to be a consumer.
I'll leave you with a rogue's gallery of some of the eReaders mentioned above.
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