Kobo Aura HD E-Ink eReader
Kobo goes against the grain with a new, high-end E-Ink reader that features the highest resolution screen of any other dedicated reader and larger screen.
Kobo has not been able to compete head to head with the larger sellers of eReading machines, at least with it current line up of devices. It's E-Ink readers have not gained significant market share against Amazon, though with Sony seeming to be heading for the exits and Barnes and Noble on the ropes, there may be room for the Japanese firm to find its niche in the American market.
Kobo also breaks new ground by charging $170 for their new device, a price that puts it near the full-color 7-inch tablets from Amazon, Google and Barnes and Noble, among others.
This is, if anything, a bold move by Kobo. But it may prove to be a good bet by the lagging manufacturer of eReaders. Kobo recently reported that the new Aura is accounting for 27% of its total sales, but there is no way to evaluate that success since they do not release their sales figures. Without more information it can't be told if they sold 100 or 100,000 of the units.
Kobo sells a total of five models of eRaders. In addition to the Aura HD model shown above, the rest of the line is shown below.
The top of the line 7-inch Android 
Tablet, is their Arc. Pictured at ther ight, the Arc is a 7-inch Android tablet that competes with the Kindle HD and Barnes and Noble's HD as well as the Nexus 7, to name a few. Priced at $200 it has not sold well against its competition, and the reviews have not been kind.
Their best 6-inch E-Ink reader is the Glo, pictured in the left image below. This is their answer to the KindlePaperwhite and the Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight. It sells for $130 and, like the Arc, has not received good reviews when compared with its competition.
The low-end of the Kobo lineup for 6-inch E-Ink screens is the $100 Touch, pictured pictured above right. This competes with the low end of Kindle and Barnes and Noble’s Simple Touch, although the Kobo Touch is more expensive.
The final entrant is the Mini. This E-Ink screen is five inches diagonal, and is the lightest eReader available from the major manufacturers. Pictured at the right, the Mini seems to have be in a hard place to inhabit, although it is an interesting innovation for E-Ink readers. The criticism of the unit is its small page viewing area, necessitating frequent page turns. It also has a reduced pixel count that makes for fuzzy fonts.
Its price, at $80, is close to the 6-inch touch, but it gives a substantially smaller reading area with less screen resolution.
Reviewers have not seen good prospects for the Mini, but is has the advantage of being the only smaller screen on the market from the top three manufacturers.
The five models of Kobo’s lineup, if they all sold equally well, would each have 20% of their total sales. Kobo has said the Arc now accounts for 27%, which is their best seller, but a 7% margin over other models is not a huge difference.
It will be interesting to see how Kobo does in the future. The firms generally is lacking in competitive equality in some critical areas: their selection of books is less than the rest. They have little to no offerings on movies, special editions, or magazines.
Compound this shortcoming with hardware that is perceived to be equal to its larger competitors and you get a less than promising position.
The best feature of the Kobo lineup is their eReader apps. I have used their app on all of my devices, and in some instances I think it one of the best for maintaining consistent formatting for poetic publications.
But, I don’t think they can make a living off their free software. They must be able to translate their best feature into a viable revenue stream. Perhaps the Aura will help, but if it does, it will contrary to the way the market in the past has been moving. For all other vendors, E-Ink readers are declining in market share. It is hard to see how their new device will reverse the larger trend to tablet eReading.
It may come down to being a matter of price. Amazon and Barnes and Noble sell their readers near, at or below costs. They want customers for their electronic content, so their eReaders are loss leaders to gain new buyers of their content. Kobo may no have enough content to sell to make this a viable option, or they may improve their content selection in they near future.
But with the quality differences in the critical areas I outlined, Kobo needs to lower the prices on their devices, even if it means selling them at a loss. Whether this firm has the deep pockets to fund this strategy is not known.
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