Hundreds of cottage manufacturers are actively preparing for the e-book reader market

Following mobile phones, MP3, MP4, netbooks, and digital cameras

    Mobile phones, MP3, MP4, netbooks, digital cameras... Nowadays, copycats have invaded all areas of the electronics industry, and the next target is the e-book reader, which has recently been hyped up by the industry. Recently, many copycat brand e-book reader products have appeared on the domestic market. The price is about 1,000 yuan, which is cheaper than genuine e-book readers. It is understood that most of these fake e-book manufacturers are from the original MP3 and MP4 manufacturers.

    Although these copycat e-book readers are cheap, they also face the "common problem" of copycat electronic products-difficult maintenance. In addition, e-book readers are different from other electronic products in that content is one of its main "selling points". These copycat manufacturers can only provide hardware, not e-book content services. Therefore, industry insiders expect that the days of these e-book reader counterfeit manufacturers will not be "mixed", and "fascinating days" such as counterfeit mobile phones and copycat MP3 may not be able to "reproduce" on e-book readers.

    Reason: Low technical content makes copycat manufacturers eager to try

    The reporter conducted a random search on Taobao a few days ago and found that in addition to Hanwang and parallel Amazon Kindle, there are five or six e-book reader products of unknown brands, with prices ranging from 500 yuan to 2,000 yuan. According to a well-informed person in the industry, Mr. Li, in the digital electronics market in Shenzhen and other regions, more than a dozen copycat brand e-reader products have appeared on the market, and more than 100 manufacturers are actively preparing for the battle.

    "The technical content of e-book readers is not high." The person familiar with the matter pointed out the fundamental reason why many copycat manufacturers "transformed" e-books.

    "The core part of the e-book reader is electronic ink. Except for the dedicated E-ink electronic ink screen, the rest of the hardware and software architecture is simpler than Mp3." The person familiar with the matter said, “In this way, previous Mp3 and MP4 manufacturers can easily enter this market.”

    As the main component of the e-book reader, the cost of the E-ink screen accounts for more than half of the e-reader. At present, the purchase price of mainstream 5-inch E-ink screens from some cottage factories is around US$60. Since the core technology of these copycat e-books is the same as the genuine e-book, does it mean that it is more cost-effective for consumers to spend 1,000 yuan to buy a copy of Taiwan?

    Industry insiders pointed out, “Although everyone uses the same manufacturer’s electronic ink screen, the internal hardware is still very different. Most foreign electronic books are in PDF format, which requires higher hardware in the fuselage. , The copycat machine can't handle it."

    Impact: The knockoff is expected to lower the overall price

    Another effect of copycat products is that e-book readers that were originally priced higher are suddenly "civilized".

    Industry insiders expect that the price of genuine e-book readers on the market will drop in the future under the threat of counterfeit products. At present, the price of genuine domestic e-book readers is between 2,000 yuan and 2,500 yuan, and the high price is one of the reasons for their general sales.

    In fact, a large number of copycat manufacturers are actively involved in the field of e-book readers, and the secret funding of upstream manufacturers is one of the reasons. At present, E-ink screens are completely monopolized by a Taiwanese company. According to people familiar with the matter, in order to check and balance major customers, the company is constantly providing its copycat factories with its public model products, so that the copycat manufacturers and its major customers can fight price wars.

    Facing the threat of copycat e-book readers, Hanwang, a domestic e-book reader brand, said that copycats cannot become a climate and it is difficult for copycat manufacturers to mass produce. In terms of content, built-in electronic books involve negotiating copyright with publishers and authors. Wait for a series of questions.

In addition, the purchase cost of electronic paper book screens is also difficult for copycat manufacturers to accept.
    However, in terms of products, manufacturers have increased the weight of competition with copycats. For example, Hanwang has introduced large-size screens, and some series will add WIFI function, and will reduce the price of some e-books to around 1,000 yuan.

    Prospects: The future of copybook e-books is slim

    Compared with copycat MP3 and copycat mobile phones, the maintenance of copycat e-book readers is more complicated.

    It is understood that all current e-book readers must be returned to the factory if the screen must be repaired and replaced. Most copycat manufacturers only conduct OEM during the production process. Unless technicians go to Taiwan Yuantai for training and establish corresponding maintenance facilities, all repairs must be returned to Taiwan Yuantai factory. The maintenance cycle is too long, and the round-trip cost is also a problem.

    At the same time, OEM copycat manufacturers generally do not have their own program development personnel. They will neither update the program, let alone add new functions, and once the product has a software problem, they cannot solve it for the user.

    On the other hand, sales issues also plagued copycat manufacturers. At present, e-book reader products are still in the development stage and do not have a huge user base. Most consumers are not too cold with this product, and domestic e-book reader products are mainly used for gifts. "Who would take a copycat machine to give gifts?" "Compared with genuine products, copycat e-books don't actually have a big cost advantage, and the profit is much lower than copycat mobile phones and MP3s." Industry insiders analyze.

    In addition, the content service is also considered by the copycat manufacturers. E-book reader is different from other electronic products, it has a great dependence on book content services. Amazon kindles are selling well abroad, all thanks to Amazon's own powerful book resources. For copycat manufacturers, the provision of e-book services seems a bit "fantasy", even for domestic genuine e-book reader manufacturers, it is currently difficult to achieve.

    In fact, some copycat manufacturers also said that many books can be downloaded online in China, which gives copycat e-book readers a certain market space. If the country cracks down on piracy and the free online book resources disappear, the prospect of copycat e-books is hard to say.