A new rumor has just emerged, suggesting that Kobo will be introducing color e-readers in 2024. But is it realistic?
UPDATE (5 april 2024): it is a Kobo Libra Colour e-reader!
As you know, Kobo will be renewing most of its e-readers this year. In any case, three new Kobo machines are expected for 2024, giving the range a fresh new look. Check the last news if you want to know more about it.
For a few days now, information has been circulating on the Internet about Kobo e-readers with color screens.
This follows the erroneous posting of product sheets for Kobo devices on a partner site and distributor of Rakuten products (Kobo's parent company).
The devices put online are called Kobo Clara Color and Kobo Libra Color.
This means that Kobo is about to announce two color readers: a Kobo Clara and a Kobo Libra, both with color e ink screens.
What bothers me, however, is that the price remains the same as that of e-readers with black-and-white e-ink screens. So these two new e-readers wouldn't cost any more, even though color screens are considerably more expensive to produce.
Clearly, this is unreliable information. We know that color screens are expensive, and that they are not yet produced on a large scale.
It seems unlikely to me that Kobo would release two color e-reader models at the same time at an unbeatable price. Color e-readers are mainly high-end models, like the Pocketbook InkPad Color 3, produced in small numbers and aimed at demanding readers.
As much as the prospect of a Kindle color e-reader in 2025 seems fairly certain to me, this one for Kobo seems rather unrealistic.
Note that the photo of the Kobo Libra Color e-reader is a photomontage and not a photo of a real Kobo e-reader.
