iReader is a Chinese brand that has primarily sold their e-readers and digital note taking devices with E INK displays in the domestic market. The company has disclosed to Good e-Reader that in the next two weeks they are going to issue a new firmware update that will have English. This includes the UI all of the menus and stock apps. The devices they will be in English are the Smart 3, XS Pro, XS, Ocean and the C6. Finally, iReader will be relevant in the North American market.
China is one of the largest markets in the world for e-readers and e-notes. iFlytek, Onyx Boox, iReader, Hanvon, Lenovo, Hisense, Huawei and many others target China almost exclusively. In the past two years there has been a paradigm shift in their approach. Most of these companies all have English firmware on them now, which expands their global reach. However, most don’t have any experience in the overseas markets, so they all lean on third party distributors, such as Good e-Reader to bring their products to market.
I don’t mind reporting on all the of the Chinese only devices, but it is hard to review them. Luckily, there is almost a small handful now that target specific markets and won’t interest our audience. This is why we don’t review Mooink or modern Bookeen devices, since they are small regional players. However, the growing trend is English on e-readers out of China. Why is this happening? I think they are hedging their bets. Books and ebook sales are strong in China, but the vast majority of people are using their phones and not e-readers. This is why Amazon stopped selling the Kindle in China earlier this year, they weren’t selling enough units to make it viable, and this is Amazon we’re talking about, the global number one player.
iReader makes some solid devices, their XS and XS Pro are basically Kindle Oasis clones that run Android and let people still apps. The formfactor is familiar and it doesn’t lock you into a specific ecosystem. I think iReader embracing English is a smart move, we have been in discussions with them for years, trying to convince management they will get more sales, with little work. I will update this post when the firmware goes live.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
