- Title: JAPAN: Sony looks to corner Japanese E-reader market
- Date: 26th November 2010
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 25, 2010) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SONY ELECTRONICS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FUJIO NOGUCHI AND SONY MARKETING DIVISION PRESIDENT NOBUKI KURITA SHOWING SONY READER TO REPORTERS MORE OF NOGUCHI AND KURITA HOLDING READER PEOPLE HOLDING AND TESTING SONY READER MAN HOLDING READER MAN FLIPPING PAGES ON READER NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) SONY ELECTRONICS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FUJIO NOGUCHI SAYING: "The fact that the price of these devices has greatly fallen and the companies sharing the market has increased from two last year to three this year, our market share will likely fall below 35%." REPORTERS LISTENING TO NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) SONY MARKETING DIVISION PRESIDENT NOBUKI KURITA SAYING: "We would like to sell 300,000 units in the first year of introdction. In the E-readers industry, specifically in E-readers, we expect those which use E-ink will exceed one million and depending on growth, we hope to be able to secure about 50 percent of market share." SONY READER PEOPLE LOOKING AT AND TESTING READER SONY READER E-INK SCREEN ON SONY READER PEOPLE TRYING OUT SONY READER PEOPLE WALKING AROUND AREA SET UP TO TRY SONY READER
- Embargoed: 11th December 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan, Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Science / Technology
- Reuters ID: LVA3B5Q6PLSASXPP2WDNYE3ET2K5
- Story Text: Sony unveiled their strategy to break into Japan's nascent E-reader market on Thursday (November 25) in Tokyo, and talked about their prospects in fending off rivals in overseas markets.
Sony's electronics book reader, the Reader, vies with Amazon.com's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook, and is available in the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
The introduction of the Apple iPad however has helped spark a price war between companies as each company has tried to create more value for their products against the multi-functional iPad.
Sony said that while there has been positive reaction from overseas markets to the Reader, increased competition may hurt the companies bottom line.
"The fact that the price of these devices has greatly fallen and the companies sharing the market has increased from two last year to three this year, our market share will likely fall below 35%," " said Sony Electronic Senior Vice President Fujio Noguchi.
While competition with rivals is intense in overseas markets, Sony hopes to break into the Japanese market with a starting selection of 20,000 Japanese language books.
Competitors such as Amazon have yet to make major inroads into the Japanese market, and Sony says that they hope to be the first on the floor in what they expect to be an Ebook boom.
"We hope to aim for 300,000 units one year from introduction. In terms of E-readers, and especially in the realm of dedicated E-readers, we believe that those using E-ink will exceed 1,000,000 by about 2012. With that in mind, we hope to grab at least a 50% market share," Sony Marketing Division President Nobuki Kurita said to reporters.
Sony's Reader Pocket Edition and Reader Touch Edition weigh in at 155 grams (5.4 ounces) and 215 grams (7.6 ounces) respectively, and make purchases through a Reader Store set up by Sony just for the device.
Both readers have touchscreens that employ E-Ink technology, to provide them both with a battery life of about 2 weeks while being able to store about 1,400 books. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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