San Diego, Calif. — Sony Corporation is planning to introduce a line of upgraded e-readers to challenge Amazon.com‘s Kindle as early as next month, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
The upgraded Sony Reader is expected to appear in August and is designed to compete with Amazon’s popular Kindle device. Pricing is not yet known, but current Sony Readers cost from $180 to $300 depending on features.
Phil Lubell, vice president of digital reading at Sony Electronics, told Bloomberg Wednesday that the device will be offered with hardware and software improvements. He also explained that even though Sony Corp. is releasing a tablet in the fall, the company will continue to push to sell their digital readers because their lower price point and dedicated function makes them appealing to a different segment.
The revenue for electronic readers doubled in the six months to May as families in the higher income category choose them over tablet computers, Pew Research Center reported.
“We think there will still be a market for dedicated readers as long as tablets remain in the $500 price range,” said Lubell.
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http://tinyurl.com/6kny45e (Bloomberg)
