Plastic Logic's long-promised e-book reader made out of plastic is facing yet another delay.
The company's $49 Que proReader owes its unique design to the company's ability to make electronic substates out of plastic in its own factory in Dresden, Germany. It's not clear why the new delay is happening, but the plastic technology is tricky to manufacture.
The company announced the technology at a DEMO conference in the fall of 2008 and then showed off the final design at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. But it confirmed in an email obtained by Engadget that it was delaying the Que proReader longer and is now canceling its pre-orders. Back in March, the company had postponed its launch until the summer. And before that, it had also announced a six-month or so delay.
The delays might very well kill the product, as rivals such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon have been slashing e-book reader prices. Apple's iPad has also had a spectacular launch, selling millions since April. But the outside hope for Plastic Logic is that the device will be innovative enough to find itself a niche among business users.
In the email to its pre-order customers, Plastic Logic said,"We've been working hard to bring the world's first product based on plastic electronics technology to market -- and have decided that delaying the device a bit longer will result in a better product for you. With that in mind, we need to let you know that since your unit will not ship on June 24 as planned, our automated ordering system has automatically cancelled your order.
We do hope, however, that you will stay on our list of customers interested in knowing about our progress and details of our upcoming product shipment. If you'd like to remain on our list, please click here.
We continue to be excited about the potential that our thin, light and shatter-proof ProReader will offer to business users everywhere, and hope we can count you among the first to experience this groundbreaking device."
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