Kobo Touch is Big in Japan; Rakuten’s Most Popular Product

Since Rakuten (JSD:4755) and Kobo Inc. showed off the Kobo Touch last week, the device has apparently been in high demand among Japanese consumers. According to Kobo Inc., the device is now the top selling product on Rakuten, although we’re not sure exactly how many pre-orders have been made. The Kobo Touch officially launches on July 19

But the Kobo was pushed quite heavily by Rakuten, and I can attest that over the past week I’ve seen their Kobo commercial as a pre-roll ad on YouTube more than a few times from here in Japan (see below). And in addition to Rakuten’s online mall (Rakuten Ichiba) and Rakuten Books, the Kobo will also be available via electronics retailers, and for ‘touch-and-try’ sessions at bookstores.

The device is quite affordably priced at 7,980 yen (or about $100) although it remains to be seen what kind of price tags we’ll see for ebooks. But Rakuten’s CEO Hiroshi Mikitani said that he was aiming for a win-win relationship with publishers. It will be interesting to see whether or not this means a win for consumers as well.

Rakuten acquired Kobo for $315 million late last year.