Pencil pusher Moleskine faces a mounting threat from electronic-tablet makers such as Apple as it targets artists, architects, and writers in an effort to halt a sales decline.
In the past seven months, Apple has introduced two models of the iPad Pro, a more expensive version of its tablet. Now users can attach a keyboard and pair it with the Apple Pencil stylus.
Moleskine has responded by launching Smart Writing Set, which uses an infrared camera in a pen to track its movement on a pad covered in microscopic markings.
The content can be uploaded to a smartphone or tablet. The pen-and-notebook set costsUS$199, while the special notebook alone goes for just $29.95.
While that’s cheaper than the US$599 iPad Pro, users still need a device running iOS or Android to upload the content created.
