Sony: Daily Edition E-Reader Might Come Up Short For Holidays

"Sony is doing everything possible to ship the devices for the holidays, but as Sonystyle.com states, we want to make sure consumers understand that due to overwhelming demand, we can't make a guarantee," said a Sony spokesperson in an e-mailed response to ChannelWeb.

The Daily Edition e-reader sports a 7-inch touch-screen display and is smaller and cheaper, at $399.99, than Amazon's large-screen Kindle DX. It's the high-end model of three new e-readers Sony debuted this fall, the other two of which, Sony Reader Touch Edition, and Sony Reader Pocket Edition, are already available for $299.99 and $199.99 respectively.

Sony has yet to reveal news and media partners for its Daily Edition, which is designed for large-size publications and periodical viewing. Perhaps its most important feature, however, is one that both the Touch Edition and Pocket Edition lack: Wi-Fi connectivity.

According to Forrester Research, Sony will close 2009 with about a 35 percent share of the U.S. e-reader market vs. Amazon's nearly 60 percent. Without the Daily Edition's crucial availability guaranteed for the holidays, however, Sony may find itself on the e-reader sidelines yet again next year as Amazon continues to dominate with its Kindle and Barnes & Noble says it expects the the Nook, which goes for $259, will ship in time for Christmas.

Forrester expects U.S. sales of e-readers to be about 3 million in 2009 and continue to grow next year.

For more on Sony, Amazon and the e-reader landscape, check out our side-by-side comparison of Sony Readers with Kindle and the forthcoming Que reader by Plastic Logic.