Thursday 8 November 2012

Have eReaders had their day

Taiwan’s E Ink Holdings Inc, which makes most of the monochrome displays for devices such as Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook have seen a dramatic drop in demand. After five years of heady growth during which shipments rose 100-fold, it got a jolt at the end of 2011 when monthly revenues dropped 91 percent in two months.

A recent Forbes article is suggesting that eReaders may have had their day, now that tablet computers have made such inroads. The article stated - "the lowly e-reader has essentially becoming a nearly outdated gadget. Tablets, to put it plainly, have finally replaced e-readers, once and for all."

Personally I don't agree with the article and own both a dedicated eReader (Kindle) and a tablet (Kindle Fire) and whilst I think they are both excellent, it is the eInk Kindle that is the best for straightforward reading. However you can't argue with the stats and eInk Holdings have certainly seen a fall in demand for their screens, but maybe that's because most people who want a eReader already have one.

1 comment:

Ron Scheer said...

I have both a kindle and a nook and a couple of laptops--and continue to buy print books. Haven't found a niche in my reading life for yet another device.

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