We reported a few days ago that Plastic Logic was looking to sell a fair amount of shares of its company to a Russian State owned media firm. We also reported a few months ago that Plastic Logic had canceled pre-orders of their E-Reader and refunded the customers. We now have confirmed reports that Plastic Logic is giving up on their Que E-Reader.
Plastic Logic first showed off their excellent e-reader at the Consumer Electrics Show. It had a high price of around $500 and due to recent entrants to the e-reader market – such as Barnes and Noble and kobo – their e-reader is not commercially viable anymore. One of the big proponents that led to the dissolving of their e-reader was the Apple iPad.
The CEO of Plastic Logic Richard Archuleta recently said in an interview; “We recognize the market has dramatically changed, and with the product delays we have experienced, it no longer makes sense for us to move forward with our first generation electronic reading product.” He went on to say, “We plan to take the necessary time needed to re-enter the market as we refocus, redesign and retool for our next generation ProReader product. We continue to perfect our core plastic electronic technology and manufacturing processes that are central to our product’s unique value proposition.”
So it looks like Plastic Logic is working on a second generation device and if the deal with Russia happens, they will be able to have their assembly and manufacturing done in Russia, instead of the UK and hopefully cut some costs in development.
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.
