Is Sony getting out of the e-reader game and going exclusively with tablets? That seems to be whats happening with the company with their only e-reader to be marketed for the last six months now on clearance at Best Buy. You can now walk into most Best Buy retail stores in the USA and get the Sony PRS-T1 for as low as $99.99. A few store managers have told us that the stores have no intentions of ordering anymore.
This is the only time in Sony’s history since they have been making e-readers that they only had one they were actively marketing. During the last few years they were peddling three different models in varying screen sizes.
If CES was any indication on the companies plans going foward, it seems to be all about tablets. Sony was showing off their Sony Tablet S and Sony Tablet P and also their concept Vaio Tablet we saw. It really seems they might be getting out of the e-reader game if one of their largest big box retailers is no longer stocking their devices. If you think about it, it really makes sense. The North American Market is quickly becoming very unprofitable in the e-reader arena due to the low offerings by Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo. Tablets are often higher end devices and can be sold at premium prices which nets everyone up and down with the supply chain with solid profit margins.
Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past ten years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and Verge.