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Comment by morsch | Hacker News Reader

RRP €499 (around $558) according to https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/28/22954498/huawei-matepad-p...

Hm, is that really a competitive price these days? That's more than 130 Euros more than an entry-level iPad... which has a long and good track record.

It's not the same thing. I think the target use cases are different. The e-ink and pen input combination is really trying to create a paper-like experience (which's great for reading and taking notes).

On the other hand iPad is more general-purpose powerhouse for pretty much anything, but if I'm between this and iPad for reading some books I'd prefer this. And I use/love an iPad Pro+Apple Pencil. Still would consider this for my long book/blog/paper reads.

The Matepad seems expensive though is comparable to other large eInk readers, but the iPad certainly doesn't have a track record as a dedicated (eInk) e-reader. Two very different things here.

Similar price and specs to the PineNote.

The iPad probably moves a lot more units though due to more general appeal. There are economies of scale that e-ink devices don't currently benefit from.

Also if you try buy an e-ink screen as a part for a project you'll see a difference in price, which will no doubt be a factor too (though the difference you or I pay for a single unit might not be entire indicative of what is paid for bulk/regular orders by manufacturers).

iPads are not e-ink devices

which make them worse in almost every way to do the things an e-ink device is built for.

As a software developer, I'm doing all I can to reduce my "screen time". I have a Barnes & Noble Nook and I've noticed that reading on the E-Ink nook is not screen time in the sense that it does not negatively affect my eye comfort. After looking at two 24" LCD monitors all day, with breaks to look at a 6" LCD telephone screen, the eyes do not want any more flashlights pointed at them. But the Nook (and other E-Ink devices) is not a flashlight and does not cause eye strain so far as I can tell.

So it is far more expensive than the similar bookeen notéa and kobo elipsa which cost 400€.

... and probably £499 in UK which translates to $670. Does it worth it?

I don't believe the material cost is even $50. It is niche and not as demanded as tablets. It is such a shame these things are not mainstream because of the price.

eInk displays aren’t cheap, then add in the pencil layer, cpu, etc

Yes, but it is not $500 expensive. LCD wasn't cheap but got 10 times cheaper in 15 years. eInk is around more than that yet still super expensive.

LCDs have massive scales of economy and endless investment into making their manufacturing cheap. I’d be surprised if eInk screens are even 1% of the quantity of LED/OLED/LCD screens out there. eInk may also be fundamentally harder to manufacture due do how it works (I’m not sure).

You also seem to be making the mistake that products should be priced according to their raw manufacturing costs. Not only is that ignoring engineering, marketing, legal, licensing and other costs, it’s also ignoring profit and trying to recoup investment on an initial product which itself is risky without knowing how well it will sell.

> I’d be surprised if eInk screens are even 1% of the quantity of LED/OLED/LCD screens out there. eInk may also be fundamentally harder to manufacture due do how it works (I’m not sure).

You are correct. 2021 alone would have sold well over a billion smartphones each with a display, OLED or LCD.

2021 was a banner year for ebook readers and yet I'd doubt they even reached 10 million units worldwide.

Electrophoretics just doesn't get investment because plainly speaking, the physics limits what it can do, and so nobody wants to invest big money into it. You'll see startups come and go, picking up maybe a 100 mil here and there and then burning out. That's even true across other display tech. Liquavista died. Qualcomm mirasol died.

You want improvement, somebody has to risk big money.

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