A lot of people have been asking about the Kobo Clara BW lately since it’s no longer available to purchase from anywhere in the US, and some are starting to wonder if Kobo has decided to phase it out.
I assumed it was out of stock because of a simple supply issue, but now it’s gotten to the point where I’m starting to get suspicious too. I think it’s been out of stock for well over a month at this point, and it’s not available to purchase anywhere in the US.
The product page for the Clara BW doesn’t even show up anymore on Amazon when you try to search for it.
I really hope Kobo hasn’t decided to just offer models with color E Ink screens moving forward. That would be a really bad idea, but they kind of already decided to do that when they didn’t release a black and white version of the Libra model. Would it really be that surprising if they decided to ditch the BW Clara too?
On Kobo’s website, the Clara Colour has over 20% more reviews than the Clara BW, which would suggest the color model is outselling the black and white model. Maybe they’d rather just sell the more expensive version moving forward to increase profits.
I still think it’s most likely a supply issue and the Clara BW will be back in stock soon, but you never really know with Kobo. They’ve discontinued models in the past when I wouldn’t have expected them to, like the Kobo Mini and the Kobo Aura One.
The weird thing is the Clara BW is still in stock on Kobo’s Canadian and UK websites, and it has been for a while now—I’m not sure if it was ever out of stock in the UK. So why has it been out of stock in the US for several weeks now?
I also suspect a supply bottleneck. The (identical) Tolino shines are still available, but sometimes with low stocks. And the (Tolino) devices have been on the market for less than a year.
I guess kobo has a lot of customers who would never have bought a BW reader, only a color one, so they probably have a lot of new users – also for their book store.
But if kobo decides to discontinue BW readers then I won’t buy from kobo anything ever again.