Will Kindle Oasis be discontinued?
What now for Kindle Oasis after the release of Kindle Scribe?
With Kindle Paperwhite now supporting most features of the more costly Oasis, its place in the Kindle line-up is questionable. This questionable existence has been accentuated with the release of Kindle Scribe, as there are two Kindles of similar screen sizes below the larger model. I speculate there are two possible scenarios with Kindle Oasis:
With the release of Kindle Scribe, it will eventually be discontinued. With the Kindle line-up expanded, Oasis's existence as a premium e-reader is no longer justifiable (especially at its current pricing). If Oasis is updated, the price will have to be slashed, which will question its status as a premium e-reader within the Kindle line-up.
Amazon takes Kobo's route and updates Kindle Oasis as a larger 8 inches e-reader between Paperwhite and Scribe. Like Kobo Sage, it will be an 8 inches e-reader with note-taking capability and 32GB storage (16GB storage is possible if the pen is bundled or the premium build is highlighted as a distinctive). Thus, there will be two dedicated e-readers (Kindle Basic and Paperwhite) and two larger e-readers with note-taking capability (Kindle Oasis and Scribe). Further, its current pricing will be palatable as it offers a bigger screen and note-taking features.
Of the two possibilities, I believe the second scenario is likely. In its third generation, Kindle Oasis is now an established part of the Kindle line-up. Furthermore, Amazon has previously increased screen sizes between iterations, as happened with the release of the second-generation Kindle Oasis (increased from six inches to seven inches) and Kindle Paperwhite 5 (increased from 6 inches to 6.8 inches).
Could Amazon update Kindle Oasis with a screen size increase without adding note-taking features? It is possible, but it will put the device at a disadvantage compared to Kobo Sage, which supports note-taking and is configured with 32GB storage.