Last week my respected colleague Ken Werner reported about the latest development trends in the EBR (Electronic Book Reader) market and two weeks ago I speculated about the EBR being a good candidate for the blockbuster product of the upcoming holiday season. It looks like I am not the only one who is betting on EBRs this season. During the last few days the floodgates have opened and we are swamped with new product introductions and announcements. This time the announcements are not only about me too products but innovative game changing products, at least if we believe the marketing folks.

Norbert Hildebrand
Insight Media Analyst

Well let’s try to summarize all the action since last week without going into all the details:

Products:
· Amazon lowers price to $259 for US and international version of the Kindle2
· Plastic Logic announced details (8.5"x11") on the ‘QUE’ to be released in 2010
· Polymer Vision has re-stated the Readius as a EBR with wireless functionality
· Epson and E Ink are working on a new controller for EPD displays
· LG showed a prototype of a solar powered EBR
· Delta is planning on launching e-paper based displays in Q2′10 (up to 22")
· Barnes & Noble announced the ‘Nook’ with a 3.5" secondary color display (TFT LCD)
· Spring Design announced the ‘Alex’ as a EBR with a 3.5" secondary color display
· AUO announces a 20" EPD module and a 9" 1024×768 high definition screen
· Ectaco announced a 5" ‘jetBook Lite’ reader with transflective LCD for $150

Markets:
· Taiwan has reached agreement with China on publishing in Chinese
· Delta has started shipping e-paper displays for medical markets
· Small Publisher announces digital version of a children’s book
· IRex announced a virtual ‘Mall’ allowing several storefronts to offer their digital content
· The German parliament plans on using the Hanvon reader
· The Barnes & Noble reader’s LendMe feature allows lending an e-book to friends
· Amazon announces "Kindle for PC" free software to buy and read e-books

Below are some pictures that go with these product announcements.

This summary doesn’t provide detailed coverage and analysis of these advancements (that is why we have subscription newsletters), but to direct the attention to the overall state of the EBR industry. Where are we today and where are we going from here is a question that is on the mind of many product planners and marketing managers today.

Here we see all the signs of a young and fast-growing market. The innovators of the world already took a good look at the EBR as newest must-have electronic gadget resulting in a few million units sold worldwide. While the US was leading the charge early on, other regions like Asia and Europe are catching up quickly, measured by product and market announcements.

The next step in this development is the early adopters rushing in, significantly increasing sales but also demanding more user-friendly operation and content availability from the manufacturers and content providers. This means for now, many new product choices and innovative product developments not only from a few small companies, but also from major display manufacturers. In addition, user groups are forming that demand specific functions, thereby creating a market segmentation that allows smaller players to provide value-added products and services. This in turn, is likely to result in alternative content distribution models with functionalities that we can’t even imagine today.

In other words, the EBR business is booming, creating an exploding variety of options for the consumer. We will see and hear many other companies joining this newly found fountain of wealth with increasing sales numbers and profits to be reported in the near to mid future. So if you haven’t already started with your EBR product design and business plan, get started because the race is on.

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