Wink-The e-reader to go cheaper

Wink-The e-reader to go cheaper

EC Media also plans to launch e-book reader that will support color graphics

Prasoon Srivastava
New Delhi, September 27

Wink, the e-reader promoted by EC Media and the Kerala-based publishing house DC Books, will reach a wider audience once the promoters launch a cheaper version in a few months.

“We are customizing our product to match the need of Indian customers. The current models from Wink have display of 6-inch and are in the price range of Rs 11,000. We have plans to launch e-book reader with 5-inch display. It will be priced around Rs 6,000. This product will enable us to reach more customers,” said Pradeep Palazhi, CEO, EC Media in an interaction with CIOL, after the launch of Wink. This new model, to be launched in 3-4 months, will have 5-inch display and other features that are almost similar to the existing models of Wink e-book reader. Wink is also planning to launch some new models with 6-inch display in the price range Rs 8,000. Wink allows users to read in 15 languages and makes available 2,00,000 titles to choose from.

“We are working on a business model to further reduce prices on both the devices and content for our users. At present we are offering 50 free e-books on purchase of our product. Further, we are working out on models that can subsidize price of e-books in our offering,” said Palazhi. Wink customer at the moment can avail 25 percent discount on most of the e-books available on Wink platform. The company has tie-up with both international as well as Indian publishers. Further, Wink has plan to double this collection in the next four to five months.

“In next four to five months we will double the content that we are offering. Besides this, we are talking to leading newspapers to bring them on our platform. We are expecting 10 national dailies to be available on Wink in the next 10 months. Right now, Wink users can access Tehelka and Business Standard,” said Palazhi. He further added that Wink will offer application for enterprises as well. “We will start business application like document on Wink from next month onwards. Simultaneously, we will read our customers need and introduce new application that will meet their need,” he said. EC Media has plan to launch e-book reader that will support color graphics, in the second quarter of 2011. In terms of business, Palazhi expects that EC Media will be able to sell 60,000 to 70,000 units of Wink. EC Media is selling Wink through Chroma, Reliance, Crossword and Landmark stores across country.