Amazon’s first ebook reader with a color screen went on sale last week, and disappointed consumers have been griping ever since. It’s bad news for Amazon, and for Billerica-based E Ink, which makes the color screens.
Many buyers found that their new Kindle Colorsoft reader was marred by a strip of yellow discoloration at the base of the screen. One owner described the effect as “beyond distracting” in an online review of the Colorsoft. Another wrote, “If you are going to charge $280 for an e-reader then it’s simply unacceptable.” Yet another called it “The Yellow Bar of Doom.”
As of Monday morning, out of 538 reviews of the Colorsoft, 57 percent gave it only one or two stars on Amazon’s five-star rating scale.
“We’re aware of a small number of reports from customers who see a yellow band along the bottom of the display,” said Amazon spokeswoman Jill Tornifoglio. “We take the quality of our products seriously and are looking into it.” Tornifoglio said that unhappy customers should contact Amazon’s customer service team.
“At E Ink, we work extensively with all our partners to support them in bringing the best product to market,” E Ink said in an emailed statement. “While we cannot comment on any individual partner or product, we are committed to supporting our partners in understanding and addressing any issues that arise.”
The company, founded in 1997, is best known for making energy-efficient black-and-white display screens. These monochrome screens are used on Kindles and other ebook readers. But E Ink is expanding its offerings of color displays. It recently announced a partnership with Belgian luxury goods maker Delvaux to add color display features to the company’s leather handbags, enabling the owner to change the bag’s color with the touch of a button.
Hiawatha Bray can be reached at hiawatha.bray@globe.com. Follow him @GlobeTechLab.
