My Take: Analyzing the iPad Effect on the E-Reader Market
A new post on the Ars Technica blog is making waves around the ‘net today among us ebook enthusiasts. The post, Whatever happened to the e-reader tsunami of 2010? asks where some of these new devices are – most notably the Plastic Logic Que and the Sprint/Hearst Skiff. The post floats one theory, that the iconic iPad has forced new devices from entering the market.
Ars Technica points out that this is only a theory, and there is no way to tell for sure what is responsible for keeping the the Que and Skiff from entering the market.
It was always going to be very difficult for these commoditized products to differentiate themselves from each other, and the fact that they’ll now be competing for whatever is left of the e-reader market after Apple takes its chunk may have been the last straw for some would-be entrants.
No one can deny that Apple’s iPad has had a huge impact in many areas of the tech market, with ebooks being one of them. But as Ars says, we can’t say for sure whether or not the iPad derailed these other products.
In my earlier post Apple’s Growing Share of the Ebook Market I argued that Apple is mainly interested in selling their iPad and family of iPhones and the iPod Touch:
If Apple was determined to take as much of the ebook market as possible, then they
Related Posts
- Apple’s growing share of the ebook market
- iRex carving out own niche in e-reader market
- Bad Apple! DRM imposed on new iPad tablet
- 5 Minutes with the iPad
- Borders finally jumps into the ebook market
Read More: eBooks, Technology
