Can E-Ink E-readers Keep Their Momentum?

It was only a few months ago that experts started believing that Amazon could be ready to part ways with E-ink technology to better compete with Apple iPad and the upcoming wave of tablets. Fast forward a few months, and consumers have plenty of decent e-ink readers to choose from (nook, Kobo, Kindle, …). Even Sony, which has been quite passive with its e-reader strategy, is improving its e-readers to keep its piece of the pie in this market. The question at this point is whether e-ink e-readers can keep their momentum going into the holiday season.

Apple iPad and other tablets may offer their users more features than Amazon Kindle does but the reading experience on those devices does not come anything close to the “e-ink” experience. But will people continue to purchase a device that is only good in one aspect of the game? Better yet, with all the shiny toys that are coming out, will e-readers sell as fast as they are now?

E-readers are expected to face stiff competition from tablets and netbooks in the next couple of years. Apple is expected to include even more features in iPad 2 (including 2 cameras). Android tablets will be formidable challengers too. Netbooks are still popular among business individuals and are getting a major boost with dual-core processors.

The e-reader price wars have been very positive for E-ink e-readers in general. The prices are so low at this point that people have an easier time investing in e-readers. Amazon, B&N, and Borders have all created applications for various mobile platforms, so when people are not using their e-readers, they are still buying books on their mobile devices from those companies.

E-readers are here to stay. At least for now. Can they keep up their momentum for the holiday season? Perhaps not. Still, the sales numbers should be very strong for Amazon (not that the company will share its numbers with us).