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Who Owns Kobo And What Is Its History?

Readers often wonder about Kobo's current parent company and its evolution from early e-reader brand to global e-book platform, comparing ownership to Kindle and Nook.
2025-10-05 02:05:19
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9 Answers

Best Answer
Kumad Esesa
Kumad Esesa
Kobo was launched in Toronto in 2009 by Joseph Bindloss and became a subsidiary of Japanese e-commerce leader Rakuten in 2011. The history of Kobo is that of a company struggling to obtain space on the crowded market of e-readers and digital books. It tries to do things differently to Kindle by Amazon by promoting open formats and partnerships with local bookstores. Speaking of digital reading, I was recently searching for some office romance dramas. Among the results I found a very interesting corporate power-struggle story called ‘I don’t belong to you CEO’. The story is about an assistant who, after being forced into a contract marriage with her cold CEO boss, secretly starts building up her own company in order to leave him. The assistant hides her success while the boss believes he is in control of her. That’s the tension of the story.
2026-07-31
Orion
Orion
Kobo has been on a really rapid innovation curve since Rakuten acquired the Toronto based eBook player in 2012. Kobo started as an eBook store for readers to buy eBooks and read them on dedicated readers. Rabuten has been instrumental in taking the Kobo brand to new markets and provided strategic support in Europe and Asia where e-reading is growing dramatically.

In addition to its vast array of compelling features, such as extensive customization options and superb support for local libraries and independent bookstores, Kobo has a strong and loyal group of followers. I can only imagine how their innovative ideas are shaping up, as always, in the most positive way, as the company continues to evolve and expand. By partnering with the tremendous resources of Rakuten after their acquisition in 2012, Kobo has not only successfully expanded to many new markets globally, but can now compete with the larger electronic reading corporations in Europe and Asia, among others, where eBook reading has become very popular.
2025-10-06
Alexander
Alexander
Kobo is a leading eReading company, and it is owned by Rakuten, one of the largest e-commerce companies in Japan. Many people do not know that Kobo was founded in 2009 in Toronto, Canada as a alternative to the eBook, and to the online bookstore of Amazon’s Kindle. The name Kobo is reverse spelled for “book”.

Rakuten purchased Kobo in 2012 for around $315 million, a foray into the digital media market for the Japanese e-commerce company. Kobo has grown rapidly, partnering with bookstores and libraries to enhance the eBook experience. In many countries outside of the U.S., including much of Europe and Canada, their eReaders are very popular, often fighting against local services and Amazon’s Kindle for top spot. I find it impressive that Kobo have managed to survive and even carve out a niche for themselves by catering to reader preferences and offering a diverse selection of eBooks.

What I love most about Kobo is their commitment to the reading community. They continually evolve in order to better serve their customers and continue to add exciting new features to their platform. For example, they recently launched Kobo Plus, a subscription service that offers users access to over 1 million eBooks for a monthly fee. They aim to create a reading experience like no other and I believe they really understand what readers want, tapping into the cultural love of books and that is why I remain a fan of Kobo.
2025-10-06
Nora
Nora
Kobo’s history is very cool! Kobo launched as a Canadian company in 2009. The company was later acquired by the online shopping company Rakuten in 2012. The goal of Kobo was to create a platform that encouraged people to read. The company has been very successful at reaching their goal and creating an abundance of eBook options for readers.

One thing I find really unique about Kobo is that they focus on building a reading culture and experience rather than just producing more products. As for their eReaders, they are nice, but the really great reading experience comes from the user interface and the variety of titles available in different genres. Kobo also partners with many libraries around the world, which enables users to access thousands of e-books while supporting local programs and initiatives. I think Kobo does a great job of marrying technology with a love of reading. Their journey and success can serve as a model for other organizations and companies.
2025-10-09
Eeeckie
Eeeckie
It’s very telling to look at Kobo’s history as a company and realize that they’ve always been about serving a niche market of readers. The ‘thoughtful reader’ who wants flexibility, access to books in libraries and from publishers, great hardware design, and hates Amazon. It’s a very specific set of desires that not all readers share. When creating a product or making marketing and partnership decisions, Kobo makes choices that are only good for that very specific group of readers and not for the mass market of e-book readers. And that’s how they’ve managed to create a sustainable business while Amazon is going after a completely different crowd. A great business school case on how not to try to fight a giant on their own terms but to create a separate battleground where you have the advantage.
2026-07-31

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Where are my downloaded books from Kobo stored?

10 Answers2026-03-29
This is probably basic stuff that is probably documented on Kobo support pages. That information is there somewhere, although the information may not always be as easily found as one would wish. (For example, on Kobo eReader, downloaded books are part of the internal database and therefore are not listed as separate files in the list of files on the USB drive. This piece of information can save much time and effort searching for something that isn’t there. The official line may be annoying in its design but at least it is there as stated. Just not what I wanted to read.

What are the best kobo e readers for reading manga?

10 Answers2026-07-29
Okay, here's the opposite perspective on this: For some people, a tablet might still be the best option to read comics. Even if you’re mostly reading Western-style comics in color, some webtoons in vertical scroll and color, and some manga, a Kobo is a very specialized reader for reading novels and manga. The Clara Colour is a nice upgrade to the 6-inch screen of a Kobo, but it’s still a 6-inch screen. Mid-range tablets have larger screens in full color, and you can use them to read comics on a variety of services (including many that have excellent apps) for reading novels and manga. Yes, there is some eye strain, but that can be mitigated by reading in dark mode or with blue light filters, etc. This is a good choice for people who read a lot of media in a lot of different formats, and not just novels and manga.

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10 Answers2025-08-03
Why do we accept this? Other media do not have anywhere near this problem. Play a CD anywhere, play a DVD anywhere, stream music or movies anywhere. Books are not even close to being as portable as these other media. We accept the walled-gardens that are Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, etc. because they appear to offer us convenience, but in reality they are inconveniencing us in ways that other media do not. The community created solution to this is Calibre, a bit of a hack, but it works. It is a way to preserve your own digital library against the wishes of the platform. Should Amazon decide to remove books from our libraries or Kobo raise their prices again, at least the books will be DRM-free on your own hard drive.
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