In 2012 Kobo released their first five inch e-reader, the Kobo Mini. This was the first time the Canadian based company deviated from the standard six inch screen size to a five inch model. This allowed it to be more lightweight and pocket friendly to carry it on the go. According to the Kobo website and various retail partners it seems to be officially discontinued.
The main Kobo website has a featured images area where their entire product lineup of e-readers are listed. The Kobo Mini is now absent from this list and is unavailable to order directly from the online store. Major retail partners such as Chapters Indigo, Future Shop, Staples and Toys R US no longer list the Mini on their product pages. In rare cases you might still find one in the retail shops, but once they are sold out, no more will be incoming.
The Mini e-Reader when released was sold for $79.99, which made it one of the most affordable devices around. Around the holiday season and beyond the reader was dramatically discounted to $49.99
Is it possible that Kobo is working on a second generation Mini e-reader? Will we maybe see a Mobius display screen or front-lite technology that will allow you to read in the dark? Only time will tell, the company is seeing critical success with their Aura HD e-reader which nearly accounts for 25% of their e-reader sales.
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.