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Plastic Logic’s $400 Russian E-reader was a Pipedream

A few weeks back I brought you the news of PlasticLogic and their new Russian ebook reader. The head of Rusnano (PL’s local business partner) had met with the Russian Prime Minister and they discussed  the the new PL ereader  and the upcoming pilot program

Guess what? That ebook reader, which was suppose to cost around 12,000 rubles, will actually cost nearly twice as much.  When it hits Russian store shelves in November it will be priced between 20 and 25 thousand rubles. That would be somewhere around $670 to $840 USD.

Well, that was disappointing. Here I had thought that PlasticLogic had finally figured out how to make a reasonably priced gadget. Nope. Their current model is as over-priced as the one they announced and killed last year.

The news isn’t all bad, but I’m not sure I believe the good part. PlasticLogic are building a new a new $700 million factory in Zelenograd, and when it’s up and running (several years from now), the price of Plastic Logic’s screens should drop considerably, and then they might be able to hit the 12, 000 rubles price that was quoted a few weeks back.

PlasticLogic are best well known for developing a new screen tech that, 20 months after it was launched, still hasn’t been used on any gadget. The key thing you should remember about PlasticLogic is that their screen tech is low-power and grayscale, but also that it is flexible. PL are a pioneer in this niche.

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Comments


Paul Durrant September 9, 2011 um 10:19 am

Plastic Logic’s product should have been a hit. A rugged bistable screen that doesn’t shatter when mis-treated. It’s such a shame that they haven’t managed to get an actual product to market.

As for getting the price down by half in 'several years' — well, that’s hardly news in the electronics industry. The original Kindle came in at $399. Here we are, less than four years later, and the far more capable Kindle 3G is available for $189, or $139 is you don’t mind a few 'screensaver' ads.

Such a shame.


Plastic Logic’s New E-reader Unveiled – The Digital Reader September 12, 2011 um 3:40 pm

[…] scheduled to hit Russian store shelves later this year with a retail of around $800, not the $400 that had been quoted previously. There’s no word […]


Aleksander September 13, 2011 um 7:24 pm

???????????? ??????????? ?????? ???????? ? Plactic Logic 2000 ?????????? ????????? ?? 12 000 ?????? ($ 400), ? ? ??????? ????? ???????? ? ????????? ?????????? ? ???? ??????? ??????????? ???????????, ???? ?????????? ???????? ???????????.


Aleksander September 13, 2011 um 7:24 pm

Russian Ministry of Education commissioned in 2000 Plactic Logic electronic textbooks for 12 000 rubles ($ 400), and in the future when built in Zelenogda the world’s largest factory of plastic electronics, the price of the device znizitsya much.


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