Kobo launches its own flat rate for its e-readers
7.7.2024
Translation: machine translated
Good news for owners of Kobo e-readers from the Japanese Rakuten Group. With the "Kobo Plus" flat rate, over 1.5 million e-books and 150,000 audio books can be used for a monthly fee.
Amazon and Orell Füssli have had a flat-rate offer for their e-readers for some time. However, anyone who does not have a Kindle or Tolino device, but one from Kobo, previously had to either buy books individually or use the flat rates offered by the competition via technical detours.
This has been a thing of the past since the beginning of June. Kobo is closing the gap in its offer with three new subscriptions. Readers from Switzerland can choose from three options with "Kobo Plus":
- "Kobo Plus Reading" costs 9.99 francs and gives access to 1.3 million e-books
- "Kobo Plus Listen" also costs 9.99 francs and allows unlimited use of over 100,000 audiobooks.
- "Kobo Plus Read and Listen" combines both offers for 12.99 francs.
Here you can go directly to the page with the three suppliers and book. A free trial month is offered, which is automatically extended by one month if you don't cancel.
If you want to be successful in the e-reader business, you don't just have to offer a decent device. Kobo has such devices in its range, as my colleague Michelle recently found out when testing the "Clara Colour".
At least as important as the hardware is that users have access to content. And this should be as uncomplicated, as cheap and as much of it as possible. With some delay, Kobo now seems to have realised this and is offering a reading and listening flat rate for Switzerland, which has been available in Germany since 2017.
However, if you want to read the current bestsellers, I have to warn you. During my test month, I thoroughly browsed through the flat rate catalogue. Which, by the way, is not that easy, because I was constantly jumping back and forth between titles from the flat rate and those that cost extra. What's more, there are hardly any useful filter options to explore the depth of the catalogue. At least there is a filter for Switzerland, which displays either French or German-language books.
But back to the bestsellers. There are some works that can also be found in the current sales rankings. For these, however, you will need the most expensive version of the Kobo plan for just under 13 francs. This is because you can only get books that are currently selling well as audiobooks. You have to buy the reading version separately.
These three current bestsellers are not part of the Kobo flat rate, neither as a text nor as an audiobook version. You could of course just order them from Galaxus. I'm just saying ...
Fiction
CHF22.40
Möchte die Witwe angesprochen werden, platziert sie auf dem Grab die Giesskanne mit dem Ausguss nach
German, Saša Stanišić, 2024
The fact that the most popular books are not included in the e-reader flat rates is not just a problem for Kobo. Amazon and its Kindle range and the Tolino world from Orell Füssli and Thalia in Germany also don't want you to get the latest merchandise for comparatively little money. Here, the presumed higher willingness to pay for bestsellers is siphoned off by only offering them for individual purchase. <p
Header image: Martin Jungfer
Martin Jungfer
Head of Content
Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.chJournalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment.
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