Rakuten Again Cuts Price On E-Book Reader
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Rakuten Inc. (4755) slashed the price on the main model of its kobo e-book device series Friday, the latest sign of an intensifying battle against industry leader Amazon.com Inc.
The kobo Touch now sells for 5,480 yen, down more than 20% from the previous 6,980 yen. The decrease marks the second price cut in just one year since the product's debut last July. Its original price of 7,980 yen was lowered last November.
The price on the kobo mini featuring a 5-inch screen was slashed from 6,980 yen to 5,980 yen on July 8. Rakuten has launched a campaign offering a 1,000 yen voucher redeemable for e-books to kobo buyers.
Rakuten began offering an application letting customers read books from smartphones and tablets as well at the end of last year. But this ended up keeping kobo sales from growing much.
Customers who read books on smartphones and tablets purchase manga comics relatively often -- in contrast to e-reader users, who are avid readers of novels, says Rakuten. For this reason, the Japanese firm decided to reduce kobo prices further in a bid to spark demand among e-book customers who are different from those using smartphones for reading.
Rakuten is also offering deeper discounts on e-books, giving 30% off the retail prices for three days starting Thursday. In response, Amazon on Friday launched a campaign returning 30% of e-book purchases to customers as member points.
(The Nikkei, July 20 morning edition)
Goay Joe Lie
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