Asus preps Eee e-book reader for 2009, MSI may follow suit

Andrew Nusca | Aug 28, 2009

The Koreans are also tapping the e-book reader market, with Samsung's SNE-50K joining the race in July. (Credit: Samsung)

Asustek plans to launch an e-book reader under its popular Eee brand by the end of 2009 at the earliest, according to company president Jerry Shen.

In a brief DigiTimes report, Micro-Star International--known as MSI to the rest of us--is also reportedly evaluating the e-book reader market.

According to the report, industry insiders say "the requirements for entering the e-book reader market are even lower than for Netbooks".

The challenge is in establishing a content delivery platform.

Amazon's already set the bar with its own Web site and sales network that WhisperSyncs with its Kindle e-book reader. And Barnes & Noble's partnership with Plastic Logic will leverage that book vendor's extensive imprint on the US market.

Will the move succeed for small companies such as Asus and MSI?

According to the article, e-book readers are popular only in North America and Europe, thanks to differences in reading habits compared to the Asian market.

That proves to be a challenge for Asus and MSI if they decide to enter the market, since Netbooks don't require a content delivery system to be successful.

However, MSI and Asus made inroads into the North American market, thanks to low prices for their Netbooks.

That same "small player" approach could help drive down the price of e-readers, which now hover between US$300 and US$500 (though Sony recently announced a US$199 e-reader).

Via ZDNet US

Filed under: Gadgets
Leave a comment | Bookmark | Share