Allen WeinerAs the wheels turns in every aspect of the e-book market, Amazon, the Seattle retailer who would like nothing better than to dominate all aspects of the emerging value chain (distribution, management, and devices), is “girding its loins” for the possible entry of Apple into its space. If, as rampant speculation implies, Apple comes out with some sort of tablet (actually a super-sized iPod Touch) and opens up its iTunes store (with about a gazillion buyers who purchase media assets) to books, newspapers and magazines, Amazon may be forced to take some drastic steps to remain a market leader.
One tactic Amazon has deployed is to give Kindles away to college students (such as this program at Arizona State University) in order for them to save money on textbooks. The real story here is that Amazon hopes to invest in the “lifetime value” of this influential customer segment hoping they will become avid buyers of e-books (and newspapers, magazines…) as they move into the real world. Proving this strategy has its merits but also its challenges, Amazon’s program has led to a group of blind students at ASU suing the school because the Kindle is “inaccessible to blind students.”
O n the surface, a future battle may appear to be between Apple and Amazon, but the key player is Adobe. Adobe, one of the prime proponents of the universal .epub book format (which Amazon does not support) and the ACS4 DRM (which Amazon does not support) could tip the e-book market balance in Apple’s favor if Apple decides to support .epub if/when it offers a tablet. Many developers are working on extensions to .epub that would allow publishers to create value-added goodies for e-book publishers such as interviews, games, videos, etc.. Such value-added books, sold on iTunes, are a market winner for everyone expect Amazon.
Much of this is speculation with one undeniable fact: Amazon and Apple may be in prime position to be major players in this emerging space, but the mega-opportunity belongs to Adobe
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Category: Mobile Newspapers Publishing Web 2.0 Tags: Adobe, Amazon, Apple, epub, iPod, iTouch, Kindle
