Sony's not the only company overwhelmed by demand for its new e-readers, as Barnes & Noble's initial supply of Nooks has run dry.
"The hottest holiday gift is out of stick," Barnes & Noble's Web site says. "Order nook today to be the first in line for the new year." Earliest shipments are now pegged for January 4.
As consolation for people eying the Nook as a holiday gift, Barnes & Noble is giving out holiday certificates to anyone who orders now. It's not a gift certificate, just a fancy-looking IOU to occupy room in people's stockings.
Earlier this week, Sony acknowledged that its Sony Daily Edition reader, which includes a touch screen and Wi-Fi, won't ship until December 18 and may not arrive in time for Christmas. The company shouldn't have problems shipping its lower-tiered Touch and Pocket edition readers on time, but neither of those include Wi-Fi for downloading books on the go.
Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps told the New York Times that neither Sony nor Barnes & Noble were truly prepared to ship their e-readers this holiday season. They rushed their product announcements, and customers were more enthusiastic than expected. All of this should be Amazon's gain, as its long-standing Kindle e-reader is still shipping immediately.
Overall, this could bode very well for the e-reader market as a whole. Amazon did run into similar problems last holiday season, but the enthusiasm for two new entrants could signal that the idea of a portable book reader is catching on. It's a little too early to say for sure. We don't know how many e-readers Sony and Barnes & Noble plan to ship, so this could be a matter of really weak supply rather than strong demand. But with e-readers getting cheaper overall, and with better features, they're getting harder to resist.
