Kobo has raised the prices of their ereaders again for the second time since they were released in 2024.
At first I thought it was just BlueProton, Kobo’s US distributor, charging above retail yet again, but now even Kobo US has suddenly raised the prices on their Amazon store.
Midway through writing this article, the prices went up on Kobo’s website as well. I thought maybe they were trying to funnel sales through their website instead of giving retailers a cut, but now they’ve confirmed the price increase by raising the prices there too.
The Kobo Clara BW is now $159.99, up from $139.99. It originally sold $129.99 when it was released 2 years ago.
The Kobo Libra Colour is now $259.99, up from $229.99, and it originally sold for $219.99 when it was released.
The Kobo Clara Colour is now priced at $179.99, up from $159.99. It sold for $149.99 when it first came out in 2024.
People have noticed a price increase from retailers in Canada as well, but it looks like the Claras only went up by $10 there. But the Libra Colour went up by $30.
This is the third time that Kobo has increased the prices of their devices mid-release over the past 3 years. The first and second time they only increased the price by $10 USD each time, but now the price increase is a lot more significant. The Kobo Libra Colour is now $40 more expensive than it was 2 years ago.
What are they expected to do during the current situation?
In Spain, prices have also skyrocketed, and it’s very rare to find any substantial deals on Kobo. It’s struggling to compete with the constant offers from Kindle and PocketBook, whose e-readers can be bought at very low prices.
It’s not just USA. For me in the UK, prices have increased
Do you think the RAM shortage is hitting e-readers now?
For sure..
Could also be taking advantage of Amzn’s discontinuation of support and DRM hardening tactics in that some readers may want to switch to Kobo in protest or other response.
KLC now costs €270 in Belgium
And it’s only gonna get worse. AI companies are buying pretty much all computer components you can think of and with investors pouring even more money into their businesses, you can expect this trend to get even worse. Give it couple of years and computers will double in price, smartphones etc too.