Optimal eBook Reader Pricing: What to Consider and How Much to Spend

Dedicated reading devices experienced a true boom in the USA, especially in 2011. The Kindle 3 (or Kindle Keyboard, as it was later called) opened doors for Amazon in the digital book market. Even after that, things continued to climb steeply until eventually reaching the peak of growth, and now the US market is largely considered saturated.

And because there aren’t constantly revolutionary innovations in the eBook reader market, many satisfied eReader owners often have no reason to switch devices. With the Kindle Paperwhite 2, this situation is likely to be even more pronounced, as readability, thanks to E-Ink Carta and exceptionally even lighting, is truly excellent. On the other hand, there’s the Nook Glowlight, which hasn’t really sparked enthusiasm, as is evident from the book retailer’s reports.

German eReader Market Continues to Evolve

While the US eReader market seems likely to lose momentum in the coming years, the situation is quite different here. The past three years have brought a series of changes to the German market, promising an exciting development ahead.

In 2010, Sony (and therefore Thalia) was probably the most important point of contact for German eBook fans. It took some time before the competition entered the market. At the end of 2011, Kobo with the Touch and Amazon with the Kindle 4 (and German support) arrived in Germany. Later, Bookeen and PocketBook also started gaining attention in the mainstream. eBook readers from TrekStor, iRiver, and Oyo were also available and prominently advertised between 2010 and 2013. To this day, the main manufacturers remaining are Amazon, Kobo, and PocketBook—Sony may soon be out of the race completely, TrekStor no longer plays a role among retailers, iRiver has exited the eReader market, and the Oyo has been replaced by Bookeen devices, which in turn had to make room for the Tolino Shine.

As you can see, there has been a lot of movement in the German eBook reader market, and the wheels haven’t stopped turning this year either. The Tolino Alliance launched the Vision, a technically equivalent Kindle competitor, on the market. PocketBook continues to expand its product range (Basic, Touch, Aqua, Ultra, InkPad, Mini…), and other providers (Imcosys, Onyx, Icarus, etc.) also want to join in.

Current Situation

Although manufacturers generally rely on the same technology, the concepts and thus the pricing can vary significantly. This raises the question of what the optimal price for a dedicated reading device is.

For 49 Euros, you can get the basic Kindle – still without any real competition

The cheapest mainstream entry currently—and for a long time—has been the Kindle 4, available with hardly any competition for the price of 49 Euros. Even though it’s a relatively plain device, the eReader has been very popular according to Amazon’s electronics charts for years.

Following that is the PocketBook Basic Touch, which offers a touchscreen, a significantly larger range of functions, and ePub support for around 80 Euros. Then there’s the illuminated Tolino Shine for around 100 Euros, which achieved great success, particularly during the Christmas season (see below). However, the price-performance winner at this point in time is still the Kindle Paperwhite, currently priced at just 109 Euros. For the relatively small extra cost of 10 Euros, you get more extensive software, a higher-contrast display, and better lighting all around.

Kobo Aura and Glo are also available between 100 and 130 Euros, with the Kobo Glo, despite its age, remaining an excellent reading device. Similarly priced (between 100 and 115 Euros) is the PocketBook Touch Lux 2, initially positioned against the Tolino Shine, but now competing with the reduced-price Kindle Paperwhite. Finally, there’s the Tolino Vision at (still) 129 Euros.

The PocketBook Ultra is expected to be released at the end of July for 169 Euros, making it by far the most expensive 6-inch device. However, it stands out from the competition with its extensive features, audio support, and camera. Still, its price has already sparked lively discussions beforehand—many potential buyers simply find it too expensive.

Smaller and larger eBook readers have also experienced a bit of a renaissance in recent months: PocketBook Mini on one side, Kobo Aura HD, Onyx Boox T68, PocketBook InkPad, Bookeen Cybook Ocean, and several others on the other side. Higher prices, especially for devices with larger screen diagonals, are more readily accepted (6.8 inches starting at around 160 Euros).

What Sells Best?

Right from the start, the Tolino Alliance, or the Shine, achieved a 12% market share

So far, so good. But naturally, the question arises as to which concept is most effective. Only manufacturers themselves can answer the question of specific sales, revenue, and profit figures, but I can provide a small insight into the market situation.

As is likely known, ALLESebook.de, like many other tech portals, funds itself through so-called affiliate links. When a visitor to our homepage buys an eBook reader from one of our partners, ALLESebook.de receives a commission on the sale. These earnings enable the most independent reporting possible on the different devices and thus also finance the comprehensive reviews.

A practical side effect: these links also provide a small glimpse into the sales achievements of the various devices. As attentive ALLESebook.de visitors have likely noticed, I frequently mention that the Tolino Shine was very successful in the past Christmas season. This claim is base not only on the recent market analyses by third parties but also on these own insights. I observed that the Tolino Shine’s market launch was relatively restrained, at least online from ALLESebook.de’s perspective (quite similar to the recent launch of the Vision). Initially, sales figures via affiliate partners were all relatively low. However, things looked quite different a few months later during the Christmas season when the Shine sold like hotcakes, especially thanks to various pricing actions. The result: in a short time, the Tolino Alliance achieved a market share of 12 percent.

The situation is similar with the Kindle Paperwhite. It sold reasonably well at the regular price of 129 Euros, but the real boosts came with the price reductions. Initially, the eBook reader was available several times for 99 Euros, only to recently be permanently reduced (presumably) to 109 Euros.

The Sony PRS-T3, lacking illumination, had a harder time in recent months. Although it continued to sell reasonably well, it could not match the PRS-T2’s success. From my perspective, it seemed as though missed PRS-T3 sales ended up going to the Tolino Alliance.

Cheaper Prices as the Most Important Selling Point?

While we can debate the reasons for the sales success of specific devices for a long time, one thing is very clear to me: eBook readers mainly sell because of price. Of course, functionality also plays a role, as do various other features, but a relatively low price is worth its weight in gold. During the Christmas season, the Tolino Shine was at times around 40 to 50 Euros cheaper than the Kindle Paperwhite, and although the Amazon eReader offers better readability, this apparently wasn’t the decisive factor for many buyers.

Similarly, one can look at the continued successful sale of the basic Kindle, which has been among the top 5 in the Amazon.de electronics charts since 2011. The E-Ink Pearl Display of the device is undoubtedly very good, but otherwise, the eBook reader without a touchscreen, solely operated with buttons, without illumination, with relatively low resolution, and a somewhat drab user interface, feels a bit outdated. No matter – the Kindle 4 continues to sell. It’s all the more surprising that there’s no direct (Tolino) competitor.

And of course, the Shell promotion for the Kindle Paperwhite must be mentioned here. The extremely low price of effectively 10 to 15 Euros for the Amazon eReader was reason enough for thousands of interested parties to storm the Shell servers at the start of the promotion, causing them to crash. 10,000 devices were allocated within 2 hours, and many prospective buyers missed out. Even considering the typical bargain hunter mentality, the demand for a product that is already somewhat affordable for most people and whose device class has been said to be nearing extinction for years was remarkable.

According to some market observers and digital reading fans, 100 Euros is now considered an optimal price for an illuminated reader. The two main culprits for the lower “high price acceptance” are undoubtedly the Tolino partners and Amazon. With the Shine priced at 99 Euros, the retailers significantly undercut Amazon’s Kindle, forcing Amazon to also offer the Paperwhite for 99 Euros during various promotions (not only via Amazon.de but also at Media Markt, Saturn & Co.).

Few Competitors, High Prices

Limited functionality, low contrast display, and high price – a great eBook reader!

The development itself isn’t so unusual because that’s how things work when a market is tapped by additional participants. It was similar for tablets—except that the market leader, Apple, can still sell the iPads at premium prices. However, Apple had to compromise with the iPad Mini, which was once categorically ruled out.

A quick look back: In 2007, I bought my first eBook reader. It was a Sony PRS-505, imported from the USA for 289 US dollars, plus 40 US dollars shipping and about the same for customs. At the then favorable dollar exchange rate, the PRS-505 came to just under 300 Euros. Compared to today, it was a high price for a device that didn’t really do much, with an E-Ink Vizplex display whose contrast ratio at no point could nearly match today’s typical E-Ink Pearl panels. Even though I had to shift to English-language literature due to the lack of German-language eBook offerings, I was satisfied enough that I repurchased the device as a clearance item at Thalia in 2009 after a battery defect (this time, significantly cheaper ;)) and even skipped buying the more modern (but lower contrast!) PRS-600.

Even today, I’m still willing to spend a lot of money on a reading device, provided it offers an advantage over the cheaper competition. In my view, the current pricing structure, in conjunction with the best possible functionality (software and hardware), has already reached a point that allows many book lovers to purchase a digital reading device relatively worry-free. Nonetheless, given the recent Kindle Paperwhite price cut, I assume that eBook readers will generally become a bit cheaper in the coming months—even though they really don’t need to.

What’s your take? What’s the optimal price for an eBook reader? How much are you willing to spend on a dedicated reading device, and what factors influence your willingness to invest in an eBook reader?