The largest consumer electronics exporter of Japan, Sony, is reportedly planning the introduction of a new and upgraded line of digital e-book readers in the United States. This move is expected to come in the next month itself in attempts at challenging the dominance of Amazon’s Kindle ebook reader in the market. The Sony Reader, which is currently offered at prices which range from $180 to $300, is probably going to feature improvements in its software and hardware when it is reintroduced in August, said Phil Lubell, who is the Vice President of the digital reading division at Sony.
These new devices will be offered to the US consumers before the first tablet devices from Sony come out, which are expected to be unveiled sometime later this year. Lubell said that the Tokyo based Sony, whose digital reading devices are behind the likes of the Barnes & Noble Nook and Amazon Kindle in the market, is planning to continue with its efforts at selling devices dedicated to reading ebooks as they are priced below tablet computers. Ebooks have also surpassed the sales of hard books for the first time in the past few months, which makes for strong market growth.
A Tokyo based analyst named Nobuo Kurahashi said that it looks like Sony is now struggling to expand its ebook reader franchise as far as it had earlier planned to. He added that the digital book device operation may also be further pressured after the tablets are introduced later this year. He talked about the tablets and ebook readers being overlapping devices.
Sony Corp.’s stocks have dropped by more than 25% this year. According to a latest survey, the number of US residents who have bought ebook reader like the Amazon Kindle has increased twofold during the first six months of the year as most college students and adults who fall in the category of highest income choose to buy electronic readers over tablets.
As a company which has arrived late at the market for tablet computers, Sony has put its stakes on Google’s Android operating system for competing in the fast growing computer industry segment. According to Phil Molyneux, the Sony Electronics president, the company wants to differentiate its own devices from the Android tablets manufactured by other competitors such as HTC, Samsung and Motorola through offering the users the ability of downloading PlayStation games, music and movies from the company’s subscription services. However, he added that the Sony tablets might be priced higher than the devices offered by the market rivals, which could turn out to be a make-or-break factor in the devices’ success.
