Sony announced today that they are closing their eReader Store on 20 March 2014, removing yet another player from this highly lucrative environment. This is sad news for authors, who have lost another retail outlet, and sad for the industry, which has suffered from an unhealthy lack of competition from the beginning that can only worsen with the demise of yet another competitor.

For Sony consumers there is some good news: Sony have made a deal with Kobo to continue serving Sony customers, who will be able to transfer their Sony library to Kobo in late March. Customer credits will also transfer to Kobo and can be used for purchases at the Kobo store. Kobo books will be readable on Sony ereaders.