San Diego – Sony is getting out of the e-book business in North America after announcing last October that it would not offer its e-reader anymore to U.S. consumers.
The company said Kobo will provide users of Sony’s Reader, Xperia tablets and Xperia smartphones in the U.S. and Canada with its catalog of more than 4 million e-books, magazines, newspapers, graphic novels and kids content. Sony’s current Reader Store customers in the U.S. and Canada will get access to the Kobo eBookstore starting in late March, when Sony will close its Reader Store.
In addition, the free Kobo App for Android will be preloaded on select Sony Xperia smartphones and tablets.
Last October, Sony announced that it would no longer offer the Reader PRS-T3 in the U.S. “In response to the region’s market changes, Sony will focus instead on mobile and tablet devices, including the Xperia Tablet Z and Xperia Z smartphone,” a spokesperson said. The Reader is still available in many other markets globally, including Canada, she added.
