Revenues fell 6.4%, to $16 million, at Franklin Electronic Publishers in the first quarter, ended June 30, 2001. The company had a net loss in the period of almost $2 million, compared to a net income of $433,000 in last year's first period.
The decline in revenues and the net loss were primarily due to eBookMan. Sales of the e-book player were $2.2 million in the period, a figure that was below expectations. The combination of weak sales plus higher marketing costs associated with the eBookMan launch were the major factors in the company's first quarter loss. But eBookMan was not the only poorly performing product for Franklin; sales of reference materials fell 21.1% in the quarter, to $11.8 million; sales to Europe were particularly weak.
Company president Barry Lipsky noted that Franklin is aware that the eBookMan "is an emerging technology" and said that the company will continue to work to improve market awareness of the e-book line.
