The Amazon Kindle might sell more units, but Kobo has done a tremendous job with the complete line of e-readers. Amazon is a reactionary based company, they respond to current trends in the market and eventually incorporate proven technology into the Kindle. Kobo, all they do is innovate.When Kobo first launched their company in 2009, they were focused on the global market. … [Read more...] about Kobo is doing a better job innovating e-readers than Amazon
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Kobo sales have increased 35% in the past few months
Kobo is doing very brisk business thanks to the global pandemic. Chapters Indigo, the largest bookselling chain in Canada closed 210 of their retail locations a couple of months ago. Barnes and Noble shuttered 500 in the US, and this has been a boon for Kobo."The initial surge of sales we saw in the early weeks of pandemic have continued and even accelerated," said Michael … [Read more...] about Kobo sales have increased 35% in the past few months
Kobo issues new firmware update that fixes Overdrive Holds
Kobo has just released the 4.21 firmware update for every touchscreen e-reader. One of the big changes is introducing support for the new Overdrive Holds system, which went live in March. This allows library patrons who borrow books, ebooks and audiobooks who are on a waiting list to cancel their hold or reschedule their hold for a later time.Here is the changelog of the … [Read more...] about Kobo issues new firmware update that fixes Overdrive Holds
Over 2 million new users have registered with Kobo during the Pandemic
Rakuten Kobo is reaching profitability, sales are up and during the past three months the company has signed up 2 million new users. It is readily apparent that the global pandemic and the closure of most bookstores across the world are driving up ebook adoption.Partnerships have always been one of the key successes of Kobo. In late March they announced a strategic … [Read more...] about Over 2 million new users have registered with Kobo during the Pandemic
Kobo is beginning to charge 0% VAT in the UK for ebooks
The UK government announced last week that they have reduced the VAT on ebooks from 20% to 0% seven months early. This was done because of the whole virus pandemic and people are self-isolating at home and reading more. Amazon quickly announced that they were in the process of discounting all of their ebooks and digital magazines, so people would be paying less. Today, Kobo … [Read more...] about Kobo is beginning to charge 0% VAT in the UK for ebooks
Australian bookseller Booktopia partners with Kobo for ebooks
Kobo has announced they have signed an exclusive partnership with the Australian bookseller Booktopia. Booktopia and Kobo have released co-branded e-reading apps for Android and iOS and existing customers will be able to login to any Kobo readers, using their existing Booktopia user credentials.In this partnership, Rakuten Kobo and Booktopia will serve readers through a … [Read more...] about Australian bookseller Booktopia partners with Kobo for ebooks
The Kobo Forma and Clara HD e-readers are on sale
Kobo is running a sale for Canadian and US customers on their website for the Kobo Forma and the Kobo Clara HD. The Canadian based company hardly ever provides discounts on any of their e-readers directly and normally sales are done through their retail distribution partners and what surprised me about this sale, is that the Forma can be picked up a huge savings, this device is … [Read more...] about The Kobo Forma and Clara HD e-readers are on sale
Kobo is now selling refurbished e-readers
Kobo is now selling refurbished e-readers on their website in Canada and the United States. They currently have two different models available, the recently discontinued Kobo Aura Edition 2 and the Kobo Clara HD. You will save around $29 if you decide to buy them used vs. getting them new.Kobo used to only sell refurb devices on Amazon and eBay and they still do to a … [Read more...] about Kobo is now selling refurbished e-readers
Kobo website and apps are down
Kobo is having some problems with their website and all of their mobile apps for iOS and Android are not working. The company has been experiencing downtime for the majority of the day and on the weekend they have a skeleton staff at the office so it is likely everything will continue to be down until tomorrow. Their entire email server is down, so it is impossible to send the … [Read more...] about Kobo website and apps are down
Here is the Kobo ebook report for 2019
Kobo is the largest audiobook and ebook company in Canada and they also have their entire range of e-readers available online and in bookstores such as Chapters Indigo. The company has just issued their new book report for 2019 and they found that Kobo users in Canada spent over 3200 hours reading. Ontario leads the provinces with over 735 million minutes spent reading in 2019, … [Read more...] about Here is the Kobo ebook report for 2019
Will Rakuten sell Kobo?
Rakuten bought two North American companies a couple of years ago, Overdrive in 2015 and Kobo in 2011. During various fiscal quarterly earnings, Kobo was only mentioned once and they did not talk about Overdrive, even once. On Christmas Eve, Rakuten announced that it sold Overdrive to KKR, a financial company that owns RB Digital (Recorded Books), and Audiobooks.com. The deal … [Read more...] about Will Rakuten sell Kobo?