During my store visits a couple of weeks ago, I came across a new highlighted product category that is available in most stores—yes, you guessed it right – eReaders. eReaders are one of the hottest product categories this holiday season and promotional displays are currently seen at most consumer electronics and mass merchant stores.
One common theme across the channel is that Sony is heavily investing in eReaders as a future growth category. The eReader display is the first thing that you notice when you are in Staples and the most prominent stand in Best Buy’s mobile device section. Sony has placed so many eReader displays in retail that it is easier to count the chains that do not promote the technology. Displays for Sony’s eBook reading devices feature informational videos and comparison charts highlighting the key differences between competing eReaders.
Following Amazon’s private label lead, Barnes & Noble also made a foray into the market with the ‘nook’. The retailer has created a separate section in the middle of its stores managed by a dedicated in-store representative to educate people about the ‘nook’, provide a demo, answer any questions, and pre-order the device. Yes, it is still only available for pre-order!!! Let’s hope for Barnes & Noble’s sake that it gets the ‘nook’ out before President’s Day!
Sony and Amazon currently dominate the eReader market largely due to brand recognition as well as the availability of these products. Out of the ten stores selling eReaders in gap intelligence’s retail panel, Sony is available at eight and enjoys a competition-free presence at seven of them. Although the Kindle is limited to Amazon.com, given the ubiquitous reach of the internet and lack of holiday lines, customers would have no trouble ordering a Kindle. Unfortunately for Barnes & Noble, pre-order sales of the ‘nook’ exceeded current production levels and the device has yet to be made available for an immediate purchase. Barnes & Noble continues to change its shipping and in-store availability date (the last time I checked it was Feb 1st, phew!!).
Several companies are beginning to push their products including Astak’s jetbook, Bookeen’s Cybook Opus, and Foxit’s eSlick, with placements limited to Fry’s. Amazon has already inked partnerships with major universities to test run the Kindle and also partnered with publishers to ensure text books are available in a compatible format. Google on the other hand, is already working on building the ‘world’s largest’ ebook library and is unfortunately also quickly becoming a part of the ‘world’s largest’ and perhaps the biggest copyright battles.
According to estimates by Forrester Research, eReader sales are expected to double from 3 million units in 2009 to 6 million units by 2010, with almost one third of the sales taking place during the holiday season. To capitalize on this expected growth, manufacturers must ensure that all production issues have been addressed sooner rather than later.
eReaders currently sell for over $150 and ebooks carry a $10 average price. Due to lack of competition, pricing has been relatively stable in this small, but quickly expanding category. Sony’s ‘Pocket’ and ‘Touch’ editions sell for $199 and $299, respectively, at all retailers except for Walmart where they are cheaper by a buck each, in line with Walmart’s lowest price guarantee. eReaders are also finding more placements in retailers’ weekly circulars. Although instant saving incentives are the most common promotion type ($40 average), the product sometimes also sells with a free leather case.
Vendors are positioning eReaders not only as a useful device for college students or business professionals, but also as ideal holiday gift items. eReaders can prove to be exceptionally useful small devices to anyone who is an avid reader, has run out of space to store more books, or is tech savvy.
The eReader market is expected to go though a sea change in 2010 with a significant increase in the number of brands and product availability (both online and retail). The category will also see aggressive price competition and possibly adaptations to its sales model and echo system. Stay tuned for more on eReaders!
It is no secret that blogs have become a go-to source for topical news and entertainment in recent years. As both print and online media outlets struggle to monetize their products, the targeted insight provided by some blogs has changed the way that many people, including myself, find their news. Below is a review of my favorite industry blogs.
MFP Solutions
The print4pay Hotel MFP Solutions Blog embraces the entrepreneurial spirit and channel-eye-view of its writer and creator, New Jersey area dealer Art Post. I’ve been reading the MFP Solutions blog since I first became gap’s MFP-Copier and Production Analyst and contacted Art for an informational interview as soon as I decided to launch the Gap Dealer Partnership Program. Without even knowing me, Art sat down and answered all my questions regarding the dealer community, what they want, what might deter them, and it certainly helped me nail down a game plan for launching the program. Perhaps the best lesson that he gave me on what motivates dealers ($) came at the end of our conversation when he tried to sell me ad space on his blog! Still mulling that one over Art…
This regularly updated blog provides a variety of content ranging from industry news, product reviews, dealer sales tips, and editorials by both Art and a field of guest writers. Even a few gap intelligence Pico Letters have made it on there. One of the most unique aspects of the MFP Solutions Blog is the level of interaction that it allows. Art regularly creates and posts surveys on major industry events and backs his entire blog with a network of closed message boards. The dealer-only (primarily) P4P Hotel Message Boards allow members to discuss events, compare pricing, share industry beliefs, and rip their vendors in a closed setting. Perhaps most noteworthy, the level of vitriolic posts on the P4P boards is far lower than any message boards that I have ever seen. Backed by his closed message board, Art is provided with an infinite number of nets to capture the pulse of the channel and get early scoops on product and industry news to funnel to his MFP Solutions blog.
This Ain’t Your Father’s Office
There are many qualities needed to run a weekly competitive intelligence service, but two requirements that continue to stand out are establishing a routine and becoming completely immersed into a category. There is no doubt that KMBS rep Neal Petermann applies both of those qualities to his “This Ain’t Your Father’s Office” blog, which is updated each Monday without fail and features very concise overviews of just about everything that happened across the industry that week. It is basically a print-focused New York Times for the twitter age: All the news that’s fit to print, but small enough to read.
The Death of the Copier
Leave it to an HP salesman to create a blog called “The Death of the Copier” right? Readers of The Death of the Copier of course know that this blog is not meant as a condemnation of copier technology (just the sales methods), and is instead intended to tout the benefits of Managed Print Services and selling solutions, not hardware. Through a combination of excerpts from industry news publications, brief insights and editorials, and very heated debates in each post’s comment section, the DOTC provides very useful insight into MPS and the direction of the industry.
With the exception of certain consultant blogs with a vested interest in the success of Managed Print Services, The Death of the Copier is about as pro-MPS as they come. So, depending if you’re drinking the new MPS “Kool-Aid” or consuming the same old hardware-centric “coffee”, opinions of writer Greg Walters can range from being a visionary to being dangerous. Regardless of the various opinions, Greg should at least be commended for finding so many pictures of women with copiers or women with fish (why fish?) to go with each and every post. He’s got to run out some day.
Plus he starts posts in ways that always crack me up. This one is classic:
“A couple weeks back, while off the grid, I had an epiphany of sorts.”
You can’t make that stuff up and I am sure he was serious. I’ve never spoken to Greg, but I can’t help reading that line in a Christopher Walken voice/cadence.
Tough Love for Xerox
I don’t always know what the heck Tough Love for Xerox writer Michael Josefowicz is taking about, but there is no doubt that this 37 year industry veteran is completely focused on the future of production printing. Especially a future where page growth is driven by personalized newspapers, the “Printernet”, expanded connectivity, and ongoing technological innovation. No looking back to the good old days on this blog, unless your talking about the stock prices of the companies in Michael’s “Printernet IRA”.
People in the print is dead crowd should add Tough Love for Xerox to their bookmarks.
The Connected Copier
The Connected Copier blog is run by Canon dealer Vince McHugh and features very passionate and lengthy posts on two main subjects, slamming IKON/Ricoh and touting Canon technology. For those at Ricoh/IKON that are trying to gain an understanding of how Canon’s dealers are going about targeting IKON’s Canon MIFs, The Connected Copier is certainly a good place to start. Gap Intelligence’s weekly MFP-Copier Market Intelligence Report is good too. Of course the Connected Copier also covers other major industry events and absolutely makes up for its bias with thorough, insightful, and passionate posts.
Digital Picture Frame Review
Consolidation of digital frame blogs has mirrored levels of digital frame vendor contraction in recent years, making Digital Picture Frame Review the only independent DPF blog in existence. Good thing for industry players and end users, the team at DPFR produces very good reviews. Reviews on this blog go way beyond the press release and spec sheet, as the writers actually use frames and evaluate the device’s core features including design, display modes, menu, memory sources, and overall usability to provide very insightful reviews. Beyond reviews, the site’s content is basically limited to reposted press releases, but it is called “Digital Picture Frame Review” after all… what did you expect?
Bill Simmons / Sports Guys World
My wife likes to remind me that I do not actually know Bill Simmons even though when I quote him I call him “my buddy The Sports Guy”. What does she know. I’ve been reading my buddy The Sports Guy for over a decade and I’ve seen him go from absolutely destroying every deserving 1990s Boston sports personality from his one man blog to becoming today’s most influential sports personality. He is on the front page of ESPN.com, has the number one sports podcast on iTunes, boasts over a million twitter followers, and his new 700-page book, “The Book of Basketball”, is number 14 on the NYT non-fiction list. Unlike other successful entertainers (Dane Cook, Padma Lakshmi, Kings of Leon, Glenn Beck, etc) it is easy to understand why my buddy The Sports Guy is so popular. Bill writes like a fan (not a critic), includes pop culture commentary in his content, and has harnessed the power of lists and footnotes to help break-up his articles and concisely prove points. Simmons may not write about copiers or digital fames, but he has had a greater influence on my writing (at least for blogs) than anyone.
Honorable Mention:
Change Forge
Digital Printing and The Pirates that Sell it!
InfoBlog
Imaging Industry Wall Street Insider
Adventures in Office Imaging
As a full time student and a part-time gapper, I find sometimes that I get TIRED. As a means of keeping my brain up and running into the wee hours of the morn I (probably against the advice of my doctor) consume copious amounts of delicious coffee when my school/work schedule demands it.
Here at gap intelligence we have a small, but growing number of coffee drinkers. With the somewhat recent addition of Josh and Erin, we have two new members of the G-telligence Coffee Brethren, worshiping our 12-cup maker of goodness. People keep late hours here.
It was however recently brought to my attention that some people are not as lucky as we, and do not have caffeine-juice at their finger tips all the time at work. My roommate is forced to drink instant coffee *gasp* made from the newly purchased hot water dispenser at the retail store she works at. She uses the new Starbucks Via instant coffee, which I have not tried but has been reviewed as “Alright” by people I know. In an even more desperate grasp for a liquid reminiscent of coffee, my boyfriend, at his coffee-apathetic office, tried combining Via with a Diedrich Coffee Pod. He claims the combination is <i>drinkable</i> but is it enjoyable? I have no reason to ever find out for myself. To my dear friends I offer but one word: Melitta.
Now with the popularity of energy drinks though, people can enjoy an expanded variety of energy-upping beverages to choose from if they dislike the taste of coffee. I was pointed in the direction of the Energy Drink Museum and was blown away at the recognition of over 1100 different types of energy drinks! What selection!
Of course there are other ways to treat sleepiness . . . like driving with the windows down while playing loud music (Just kidding, DMV!), or actually sleeping, but that report isn’t going to write itself. Whether you’re drinking coffee for its caffeine component or simply for its delicious qualities, raise your mugs high and let it be known, Coffee! I love you!
