PocketBook International SA

Who owns PocketBook International?
PocketBook International is a privately held, founder-owned company. Oleg Naumenko founded the business in 2007 and it has remained independent since. No larger corporation owns the company, and it has never been acquired.

Is PocketBook International publicly traded?
No. PocketBook International SA is a private company registered in Lugano, Switzerland. Its shares do not trade on any stock exchange.

When was PocketBook founded?
The company was founded in 2007 in Kyiv, Ukraine. It moved its headquarters to Lugano, Switzerland, in 2012.

Who founded PocketBook?
Oleg Naumenko founded PocketBook in Kyiv in 2007 and continues to lead the company.

Where are PocketBook devices made?
PocketBook devices are designed by the company's European team and manufactured by Foxconn in China. The company's headquarters and commercial operations are based in Lugano, Switzerland.

Where is PocketBook sold?
PocketBook products are sold in more than 50 countries, primarily across Europe. The brand is particularly strong in Germany and Central and Eastern European markets, and it suspended sales in Russia following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

PocketBook was founded in 2007 in Kyiv, Ukraine, by Oleg Naumenko, at a moment when the e-reader market was just forming. Amazon launched the first Kindle in November 2007, and Sony had pioneered consumer E Ink devices with its Reader line. PocketBook entered with a different emphasis: broad file format support and a focus on markets that US-centric competitors underserved.

The company's first device, the PocketBook 301, arrived in 2008. It was followed in 2009 by the PocketBook 360, a compact device that gained attention for its design. Early PocketBook readers stood out for supporting Cyrillic text and a long list of formats, which made them natural choices in Eastern European and Russian-speaking markets. PocketBook became the bestselling e-reader brand in several of those markets within a few years of launch.

Through the early 2010s, the company expanded across Western Europe, opening distribution in Germany, France, and other EU markets. In 2012, PocketBook moved its corporate headquarters from Kyiv to Lugano, Switzerland, while retaining significant research and development operations in Ukraine. The Swiss base gave the company a neutral corporate home closer to its primary European markets.

Product development continued across multiple form factors. The company introduced front-lit displays, waterproof models such as the PocketBook Aqua, and larger devices including the InkPad series aimed at PDF reading. In 2018 and 2019, PocketBook was among the first manufacturers to ship e-readers using E Ink's Kaleido color display technology, and it has continued shipping color devices across its Era, InkPad Color, and Verse lines.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 created operational challenges for the company, which maintained engineering staff in Kyiv. PocketBook suspended sales in Russia, historically one of its largest markets, and continued operating with a distributed team. Recent years have brought a refreshed lineup built around the Verse, Era, and InkPad families, plus e-note devices with stylus support, sold through a network of retail and distribution partners in more than 50 countries.