BPN 1169 e-Book lands in the UK in September

Well, it is finally happening in the UK: the large-scale introduction of e-readers and e-books. The bookstore chain Waterstone and Sony are taking pre-launch orders for the e-reader of 199 pounds (232 euro) to be launched in September. Will the combination of a bookstore and a consumer electronics giant make an impression on the UK market? Does the combination fulfil the conditions for the iPod syndrome: innovative hardware, a large portfolio, easy access to a fast download service, a reasonable price and does the combination have an innovative image.

Hardware: Sony will sell the 2006 model PRS 505 e-reader, which weighs 260 grams, can hold 160 e–books, has a battery life of 6.800 page turns. It sells in the US for 299 dollars. The model has the dimensions of a printed paperback. The action of Waterstone and Sony is a pre-emptive strike to grab market share. Book distributor Borders has announced to introduce the non-wireless iLiad of 399 pounds (465 euro). And the Kindle of Amazon still hangs above the market; the Kindle costs in the States 359 dollars, which would make it the cheapest e-reader for 155 pounds (210 euro).

Portfolio: Waterstone and Sony have not announced which portfolio they use. The buyers will receive a free CD with 100 classic e-books. Recently trade publishers have been falling over themselves to get in on the e-book act. Penguin, Random House Macmillan, HarperCollins and even Harlequin have all made announcements. I had expected that Penguin would have been in on the deal with its 5.000 e-books. But of course the problem will be the publishing format. Penguin is using the .epub format, a format already adopted by Hachette Group USA. HarperCollins is expected to go the same route. And Sony has announced that it will support the .epub format (Sony writes the format as .ePub); that is quite a change from a closed format Sony has used since the launch of its first e-redaer in 1991. Borders and the iLiad adhere to the Mobipocket format. Amazon and Kindle list more than 40.000 titles.

Download service: Sony has already a download service in operation. Thousands of eBookscan be downloaded at Waterstones.com/eBooks from early September 2008 onwards.

A reasonable price: for the iPod the price per song was important and turned out to be reasonable in the end; in fact downloaders started to realise that they could legally download against a reasonable price. In the e-book sector illegal downloading is less a problem as in music. Yet if there is not a price difference between the printed copy and the e-book, it will not really work.

Innovative image: Apple is the promoter of the innovative products iPod and iPhone. Waterstone and Sony is not the most exciting combination; the combination Waterstone, Sony and Penguin would have made a super combination. The team Borders and iRex Technologies is not a real winner either. Amazon is of course a winner, but the UK publishing industry does not want to hand itself over to the Moloch, which could create a monopoly on e-books.

Blog Posting Number: 1169

Tags: e-reader, e-book

BPN 1072 Penguin to launch 5.000 e-Books

There is exciting news from Penguin, the UK publishing Group most famous for its orange paperbacks. In September the publisher will launch e-Books. Not just a few books to test the water, but it will present a list of no less than 5.000 e-Books. Even the titles in the back catalogue of Penguin will be given a new lease of life. Is this going to be a major break through in the publishing world or not?

Penguin, a division of the newspaper and book conglomerate Pearson, is a major player in book publishing. The fact that the publisher, with its imprints Dorling Kindersley and the travel books decided to publish the electronic books is a major decision, perhaps a signal to the rest of the publishing world. And that they are serious can be deducted from the decision to publish the complete backlist of titles electronically. At once the availability of e-Books is enlarged substantially. The decision of Penguin will put pressure on the book publishing world.

About the business model not much is known yet. The entire backlist of Penguin titles will be available. From September onwards Penguin will release e-Books at the same time as it produces the print edition. The electronic version, however, will be available at the same price as the printed edition. Penguin has not announced yet in what format the e-books will be available in neither has been said anything about the use of copy-protection technology (DRM).

The fact that the same price will have to be paid for electronic and printed editions, is curious. It indicates that Penguin does not have much confidence in the distribution and business models. It looks like the company chooses for the top of the price elevator which can only go down. It might also indicate that Penguin does not understand the marketing of electronic products. In 2006, I questioned Penguin’s marketing knowledge of marketing electronic books and I was wrong as it concerned a printed book. But this time it looks like the business model might be questioned. The costs for printing and physically distribution are not in the calculation of e-Books. Of course format conversion and perhaps DRM are in the calculation as well as the electronic distribution.

It is clear that digital paper has given a stimulus to this decision. Penguin presupposes, that this new generation of e-Books will be a new wave. And it is a courageous step of Penguin, regardless of the business model used. It looks like safety has been built-in, in case; the price for the e-Book can still be lowered. On the other hand, there is still not a firm plan regarding the format and DRM. Working with the iPod business model, the Penguin model still lacks some success factors. But one thing is sure: Penguin has become a great promoter for e-Books before it even has published one. Which other renowned publishing company will follow?

Blog Posting Number: 1072

Tags: e-Book, e-Reader, DRM, digital paper