This week, I sold my nearly 1 year old Kindle 2.
When Apple announced the iPad, they decided to increase the price of e-books to $14.99 — a price point that favors publishers, rather than consumers.
In the media market, Apple has been disruptive. They weren’t the first ones to release an MP3 player, a phone, a set-top box, or a tablet. However, because of their reach and usability, they’ve been able to capitalize on a lot of these devices. Secondly, their ecosystem of connecting devices with media is second to none.
However, with the release of the iPad and the iBook store, Apple has started making a negative impact on the e-book market.
Here’s how the iPad’s pricing model negatively impacts the e-book market:
- Rising cost: Assuming that books costs $14.99 on the iPad and the Kindle, that price is more than a hardcover book or within $2 of a hardcover book. For example, if the Kindle version of Seth Godin’s new book, Linchpin was raised to $14.99, it would be cheaper to purchase the hardcover book via Amazon, rather than purchase a digital version.
- Long-term value: Last year, I spent $227.43 to buy books on the Kindle. However, after deactivating and selling the device, I had nothing to show for that amount. With traditional books, I could always sell them. Unlike the digital books, physical books do retain value — even years after they’re published or purchased.
- Content availability: Today, availability of e-books is still limited. Often times, publishers provide digital versions after the availability of hardcover books. Another negative factor is the lack of continuity. If you’re a fan of any procedural or fictional series, such as books by Joseph Finder, you’ll soon realize that not all books are available in digital versions. Unless publishers pro-actively start publishing their content in digital format, the e-book market is not going to take off.
While Amazon has tried to innovate on all 3 fronts by a) asking publishers to keep prices down b) provide their reading application on multiple devices and c) working with publishers to increase availability, Apple, even without an official product release has disrupted this progression.
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