Kindle has the edge in e-book market, but for short time

21st June, 2010 by adina
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Although Amazon has the edge in e-book market for the moment, its advantage is not supposed to last for a long time, as it would lose ground over time in favor of Apple. The Amazon’s Kindle store has more choice and also lower overall price compared to the iPad’s iBookstore. However, analyst Mark Mahaney thinks this situation will not last because Apple continuously refines its store and at the same time increases iPad sales. He did not predict when the phenomenon would happen but thinks it is inevitable.

The gap between the two markets is very close when speaking about the New York Times bestseller lists, which influences the success of digital sales. Only half of the NYT’s bestseller list is present on both platforms. Two months after the launch of the iBookstore Apple has about 63 percent of the whole list while the Kindle is situated at 88 percent. Almost 80 percent of this list is at the same price. The average price of a book on Kindle’s market is $11.23, while Apple’s is $12.31, which is one dollar more. The less expensive books on the Kindle have prices cheaper with only eleven percent.

Amazon is concerned over the vulnerability of the Kindle store and reader versus Apple. It has never revealed how many devices have been sold starting with their launch date in 2007, but unofficial estimates show about three million Kindles sold. Apple has already sold two million iPads although only two months have passed from the launch, but it has the necessary potential to outsell the lifetime sales of the Kindle before this year comes to its end. It is true that only a part of these devices would determine significant e-book reading. However, this may encourage publishers to offer more books on the iPad’s store.

The situation may be aggravated by the imminent appearance of the iBooks application and store on iPod touch and iPhone in a few days, alongside with the launch of the iOS. Amazon has a Kindle application for both the iPhone and iPad but does not have the control of these platforms to promote their correspondent stores. As for iPad owners, they are offered a one-time promotion for the iBooks application when they are visiting the App Store by using the tablet.


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