Sony drops eBook reader prices - but UK still sky high
By Nicole Kobie
Posted on 6 Jul 2010 at 12:53
Sony has dropped prices of its eBook readers, as the price war rumbles on.
Last month, Amazon dropped the price of its Kindle to $189, while US rival Barnes & Noble cut its Nook to $199, as Apple threatened to take a slice out of the market with its iPad tablet and iBooks store.
Sony has now followed suit, dropping its Pocket Edition from $169 to $149 and its Touch Edition from $199 to $169. The price of the Daily Edition, which uses 3G to download newspapers and magazines, has fallen from $349 to $299.
While the Amazon Kindle is available in the UK at the American price, UK fans of the Sony eReaders are stuck with regional prices. On the UK Sony site, the Pocket Edition has fallen from £199 to £159 ($240) including VAT, which is still well above the US cost. The Touch Edition remains unchanged at £229 inc VAT ($349).
A Sony spokeswoman said the company had no comment on whether UK prices were set to be reduced to US levels.
From around the web
Apple and Adobe seem virtuous by comparison
$169+17.5%=$198.57=£130.75
A mere 21.6% markup!
By milliganp on 6 Jul 2010 
Does the quoted US prices include sales tax though?
By m_walsh on 6 Jul 2010
@m_walsh In the US sales tax is always added at the till, so prices are without tax. In the UK, for consumer products, it is a legal requirement to list the price inclusive of VAT.
By milliganp on 6 Jul 2010
@m_walsh
US price is $169 which is £113 (ex sales Tax)
So £113 + VAT = £133, which is not £229 by any stretch.
When I last checked, VAT wasn't 202%.
By cheysuli on 6 Jul 2010
Rip Off - It's the Books
It's not the markup on the Hardware I have a problem, its the price of the e-books.
I was ready to buy a reader two years ago - so glad I looked into book prices first and things still haven't much improved.
How can they justify charging more for a pdf than for a physical book? I have seen many titles that the pdf is double the price. Madness
By kingct on 6 Jul 2010
@ kingct
Agreed, the rip off prices of the books will always be the stopping point for me. Not so much the one off hit of the cost of the reader.
By Grunthos on 7 Jul 2010
High prices
It seems the book publisher have not learnt anything from the Music or Film industry.
Now books are in the digital realm and are also being sold at a high price then the illegal download market will inevitably expand.
By DagMiller on 7 Jul 2010
I haven't had problems with prices of eBooks. I purchase them for the same price I would a traditional paper/hard back. My website of choice is booksonboard.com, and I will be standing by them for a good while since they have been so great throughout the whole time I've been with them. You guys should check them out if you're looking for great prices.
By diablo on 7 Jul 2010
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