The Influence of Amazon In The Digital Publishing Market
The recent surge in the popularity of both e-books and e-book readers has been heavily influenced by Amazon. The Amazon Kindle reader first hit the market in November of 2006 and further updates followed with the release of the Kindle 2.0 in February of 2009 and the August 2010 launch of the upgraded third generation Kindle. The summer of 2009 also saw the launch of the large format Kindle DX, which was also updated in August 2010.
Many business analysts forecast that, regardless of Amazon's influential role in the development of the e-book and e-book reader market, the release of Apple's iPad would effectively kill off the Kindle. However, after the third generation launch – accompanied by some price cuts – Amazon sold out of Kindles (yet again). On the face of it, demand seems to remain high for what has now become Amazon’s top selling product.
For some people, the change to e-books has been easy to accept. Others have formed an attachment to physical books. However, for the majority of people the convenience of being able to carry large quantities of books around with them, coupled with the ease of operation offered by e-book readers, has been an attractive proposition. Recent reductions in the selling price of e-book readers, possibly brought about by the iPad’s launch, have sweetened the deal sufficiently for many readers.
Amazon recently advised that they are now selling more Kindle books than conventional hardback books. The lower sales price of e-books – which use no paper or ink and have no delivery fees to speak of – certainly helps. It's not too much of a stretch of the imagination to envisage that e-book sales will soon outstrip paperback sales.
The ease with which e-books can be bought, and subsequently delivered, is another influencing factor. Readers can download a book to their Kindle in less than sixty seconds, at any time of the day or night, just as long as they can connect to Amazon’s Kindle store.
A possible area of concern for some customers was the worry that they would be "tied" to one particular e-book reader. This issue has been very effectively addressed by Amazon who have released a large number of free “apps” to allow Kindle books to be read on a wide range of different devices. Currently, Kindle books can be read on the Mac, the PC, the iPhone, the iPad, the Blackberry smart phone and any device which uses the Android operating system. It’s a smart move by Amazon. It not only removes customer's concerns about being tied to one proprietary piece of hardware but every new app acts as a seperate point of sale for Amazon's vast library of Kindle books. Currently, approximately 20% of all Kindle book sales are destined to be read on non-Kindle hardware.
All things considered, it looks like e-books are here to stay and that they will gradually account for a higher and higher percentage of book sales. It also seems probable that Amazon will continue to be a driving influence in the world of digital publishing in future.
Many business analysts forecast that, regardless of Amazon's influential role in the development of the e-book and e-book reader market, the release of Apple's iPad would effectively kill off the Kindle. However, after the third generation launch – accompanied by some price cuts – Amazon sold out of Kindles (yet again). On the face of it, demand seems to remain high for what has now become Amazon’s top selling product.
For some people, the change to e-books has been easy to accept. Others have formed an attachment to physical books. However, for the majority of people the convenience of being able to carry large quantities of books around with them, coupled with the ease of operation offered by e-book readers, has been an attractive proposition. Recent reductions in the selling price of e-book readers, possibly brought about by the iPad’s launch, have sweetened the deal sufficiently for many readers.
Amazon recently advised that they are now selling more Kindle books than conventional hardback books. The lower sales price of e-books – which use no paper or ink and have no delivery fees to speak of – certainly helps. It's not too much of a stretch of the imagination to envisage that e-book sales will soon outstrip paperback sales.
The ease with which e-books can be bought, and subsequently delivered, is another influencing factor. Readers can download a book to their Kindle in less than sixty seconds, at any time of the day or night, just as long as they can connect to Amazon’s Kindle store.
A possible area of concern for some customers was the worry that they would be "tied" to one particular e-book reader. This issue has been very effectively addressed by Amazon who have released a large number of free “apps” to allow Kindle books to be read on a wide range of different devices. Currently, Kindle books can be read on the Mac, the PC, the iPhone, the iPad, the Blackberry smart phone and any device which uses the Android operating system. It’s a smart move by Amazon. It not only removes customer's concerns about being tied to one proprietary piece of hardware but every new app acts as a seperate point of sale for Amazon's vast library of Kindle books. Currently, approximately 20% of all Kindle book sales are destined to be read on non-Kindle hardware.
All things considered, it looks like e-books are here to stay and that they will gradually account for a higher and higher percentage of book sales. It also seems probable that Amazon will continue to be a driving influence in the world of digital publishing in future.
