Rakuten Kobo returns to U.S. retail as sales double
Rakuten Kobo is re-entering the U.S. retail market through a partnership with Best Buy after seeing sales double in recent years. The company attributes its growth to early adoption of color e-reader technology and shifting consumer reading habits.
Why it matters
This marks a significant shift in the e-reader market, which has been dominated by Amazon's Kindle for over a decade.
As of this month, Best Buy stores in the U.S. have begun selling a selection of Rakuten Kobo e-readers and accessories, marking a return to U.S. retail for the Japanese-owned Canadian bookseller.
The company previously sold e-readers through Walmart starting in 2018, but that relationship never gained much traction and ended in 2024. Since then, devices were available to order through Kobo's U.S. website and third-party retailers like BlueProton.com .
Kobo is a prominent e-bookseller in Canada, where it has long partnered with Indigo - its former parent company - and sells devices in their stores, as well as in Best Buy Canada. But the American market, where Amazon has dominated the e-book space since the launch of the Kindle, has been harder to penetrate.
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