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Last updated: Wednesday, August 5, 2009

In a move to grab market share from Amazon, Sony on Wednesday introduced two new e-book Readers that aim to make the devices more affordable. The Reader Pocket Edition and the Reader Touch Edition will be available at the end of August at SonyStyle.com, SonyStyle stores, and Sony’s retail partners. The Reader Pocket Edition will sell for $199 ($100 less than the Kindle) while the Touch Edition will retail for $299. “We firmly believe consumers should have choice in every aspect of their digital-reading experience,” said Steve Haber, president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division. “Our goal is to expand the market and provide greater access to what consumers want to read when they want to read it — whether they buy, borrow or get it for free.” A Pocket-Sized Reader While Amazon went larger with its Kindle DX e-book reader, Sony is moving in the opposite direction with the Reader Pocket Edition, which targets consumers who want ultraportability. The latest addition to the Reader line fits into a purse or jacket pocket. The Pocket Edition has a five-inch electronic page display. Sony describes it as easy to navigate with one hand and, despite the small size, it can store about 350 standard e-books. Sony said the Pocket Edition offers up to two weeks of battery power when fully charged. At $199, Sony has come out with the most affordable dedicated reading device on the market to compete against Amazon’s Kindle, which dominates the market. With new e-book reader competition coming early next year, Sony may be looking to broaden the market. “Plastic Logic is coming out with a device powered by AT&T’s network, but it’s going to be larger than the standard Kindle,” said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis. “That would indicate Plastic Logic is aiming at the premium end of the market….

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Sony Takes on Kindle with Smaller, Cheaper E-Readers

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