Sony gives up on e-readers after ten years

Sony has confirmed that it is not planning to release any more e-readers – ten years after pioneering the reading format.

Long before we had the Kindle, we had the Sony Librie, which was released way back in 2004. The device had an e-ink display, but lacked the featured that made the Kindle a real success like a built in app store. But it was there first – which isn’t an inconsiderable achievement.

The current thinking is that e-readers are currently in the decline – challenged by the ubiquity of tablets and phones, which as well as read books can do many other things. This is perhaps why Sony has decided to call it a day.

I guess you could say we can close the book on this chapter in Sony’s history.