Kobo has a limited number of Kobo Aura One ereaders back in stock again.
Both the US and Canadian Kobo stores show that limited quantities are available, while the UK store still says more stock is coming soon.
Kobo had some for sale last week for a short time, so they might not last for long, but it looks like they’re at least getting a steady supply going again.
They’ve also started selling the official Kobo Aura One sleepcover once again after being out of stock for a long time.
In fact the Kobo Aura One itself has been out of stock from Kobo’s website the majority of the time since it was released in September.
Kobo quickly sold out and claimed they had sold more than expected, but the Aura One was still available from retail partners a large portion of the time so they must have been prioritizing retail supply over their own.
Either way it’s good to see the Kobo Aura One becoming more widely available. The large 7.8-inch screen makes it unique and appealing over all the similar 6-inch ereaders on the market. I liked it enough to declare it the best new ebook reader of 2016.
And the US store is out again.
It’s weird how they still show in stock for Canada though. What difference does the country make when it ships from the same place?
It’s almost like Kobo doesn’t want American customers. In fact, it’s *exactly* like Kobo doesn’t want American customers.
My guess is that it is due to difference in population size. US population outnumbers Canadians by about 10 to 1, so in terms of pure sale figures it is sold out much faster in the US.
That doesn’t make sense. Why would they allot more for one country than another when they are shipping from the same place? Plus the population difference means nothing when less than 5% of people in the US know that Kobo exists. They also make considerably more per unit sold in the US because of the current conversion rate. Even with the higher list price, Canadians are only paying the equivalent of $190 USD when in the US it’s $229 USD. So the fact that Kobo makes $40 more per sale when selling to the US makes their Canada-first business strategy seem even more ludicrous.
No stock in UK on Kobo, Argos and W H Smiths Webs sits.
Has anyone purchased one on Ebay from one of the Japan sellers? I see new ones there for $238.
new in EU: €268!