According to online reports, Plastic Logic has delayed the shipments of its once-highly-awaited Que e-reader till summer – the information being forwarded via a March 11-dated communiqué from the company’s chief executive Richard Archuleta to customers who had preordered the device.

As per Archuleta’s e-mail, the holdup in the shipments of Que e-reader – which is basically targets business travelers and other users looking for an ultra-portable way to carry documents – has largely resulted from the company’s opinion that the device needed to be fine-tuned so as to “enhance the overall product experience.”

Equipped with a 10.7-inch screen, Que, which boasts the ability to download and display Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and PDF documents, would retail for $649 for the 4GB Wi-Fi version, and $799 for the 8GB version with Wi-Fi and 3G.

The price-tag of the Que e-reader has been a much-debatable issue, more so as the other e-readers available in the market – Kindle from Amazon, and Nook from Barnes & Noble - have a below-$400 price point.

Justifying the rationale behind the price of the Que during a conversation with eWEEK at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this January, Plastic Logic’s senior director of technical marketing Steven Glass had said: “It’s a higher price point because it’s a different demographic: customers who want to read business documents.”