Of this market, Amazon<\/a>‘s Kindle enjoys a share of nearly 60%, Barnes and Nobles<\/a>‘s Nook holds a 25% share and Japanese company Rakuten’s Kobo is hanging in there with a 10% share.<\/p>\n Kobo<\/a> is a Canadian-based, Japanese-owned e-reader company that has its own e-book service, just like the relationship between Amazon and Kindle.<\/p>\n Kobo eReader range<\/p><\/div>\n The Kobo store claims to have three million e-books, one million of which are free. The company also says it has a wider, more diverse offering than even Amazon.<\/p>\n Kobo also says it has 10-million registered users across 190 countries, but as one can see from the number of e-readers in the market, only 1.1-million of these registered customers have Kobo e-readers. The others must be downloading e-books to their laptops, desktops, phones or tablets.<\/p>\n In South Africa, Kobo is predicting that it will take 50% of the e-reader market in the next 12 months, \u00adthreatening Kindle’s domination in the market.<\/p>\n It is an ambitious target, but with the South African market still in its infancy, the establishment of a firm foothold is an imperative.<\/p>\n Pick n Pay<\/a> has signed a six-month exclusive deal with Kobo and the e-readers are on sale in 41 of the retailer’s stores and on the Pick n Pay website. The deal will also see Pick n Pay earning a percentage of all e-books bought on devices purchased in its stores.<\/p>\n Pick n Pay marketing director Bronwen Rohland<\/a> said there was no getting away from the fact that the world was becoming increasingly digitally focused.<\/p>\n Michael Serbinis<\/a>, chief executive of Kobo, said: “We are excited to enter a new continent and happy to be able to do so in partnership with Pick n Pay. Together, we hope to transform the digital publishing market by making more e-books available to more people throughout South Africa.”<\/p>\n Michael Serbinis<\/p><\/div>\n At R995, the Kobo Touch is an attractive e-reader option.<\/p>\n In fact, influential \u00adtechnology magazine Wired rated the Kobo Touch as the number one e-reader in the market in 2011.<\/p>\n It beat well-established competition from the Nook Simple Touch, the Sony e-Reader and Amazon’s Kindle.<\/p>\n The light and portable Kobo Touch weighs only 185g, has a battery life of up to one month, and holds up to 1000 e-books.<\/p>\n It is wi-fi enabled, allowing readers to share their reading habits through social media, and has adjustable font sizes.<\/p>\n In its review of the Kobo Touch, Wired magazine called it, “the most natural e-ink reader we’ve ever used”.<\/p>\n The review continued: “Kobo also remains arguably the best choice for a truly international e-reader, due to its wide-ranging set of global partners and willingness to allow content from other stores that use the EPUB standard.” The EPUB is an official standard of the International Digital Publishing Forum.<\/p>\n If you are looking for an e-reader to access newspapers and magazines, though, the Kobo may not be the best option because Amazon offers a much wider range of titles.<\/p>\n Source: Mail & Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n Kobo Touch eReader for SA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n E-reader future in question<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Windows 8 versions and SA pricing explained<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Groupon explains Windows 8 Pro deal mess<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Kobo](\"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Kobo-eReader-range.jpg\" "\\"Kobo")
<\/a>Kindle’s domination<\/h3>\n
![\"Michael](\"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Michael-Serbinis.jpg\" "\\"Michael")
<\/a>Price the right touch<\/h3>\n
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