There are a lot of exciting eReader developments this December (beyond Kindle Vs Apple Reader). In fact, December has seen eReader and eBook developments at a much faster rate than ever before.
The Nook arrives, stumbles a bit
The Nook finally started showing up and reviews are mixed due to the sluggishness -
- Nook owners seem to like it – the nook user reviews are good and owners seem OK waiting for a January update that promises to fix the sluggishness.
- The major blogs gave Nook a lot of grief for the lack of speed.
- David Pogue at NY Times crucifies B&N for rushing the Nook to market before it’s ready. He does point out that the Nook doesn’t deliver everything that B&N promised.
Seriously though, the Nook isn’t terrible like David Pogue makes it out to be. It’s unfinished and yet still good competition for the Kindle and gives Amazon enough incentive to keep making improvements.
B&N don’t really have a place for user reviews so it’s hard to say what the general consensus amongst owners is – only the ones that visit the forums are writing their thoughts and they seem to like it.
The Grand Magazine Consortium takes on the Kindle and Apple
Five magazine publishers - Conde Nast, Meredith, Hearst, Time Warner, and Time Inc. – came together to announce a Grand Consortium that would -
- Create a common storefront and platform.
- Let users purchase content and read it across any device.
- Find ways to line publishers pockets.
- Let them keep control and fight off Apple and Amazon.
In typical forward-thinking publisher fashion they don’t have a name, a website or an eReader.
ePub continues to grow stronger
Kindle vs ePub is becoming inevitable as we saw -
- Sony switch over completely to ePub.
- China and Taiwan get into the act and agree to promote ePub.
- Shortcovers add ePub versions for all its ebooks.
- Foxit eSlick and Hanvon n516 add ePub support.
- Aluratek’s Libre add ePub support via Adobe Digital Editions.
Even entire countries are putting their weight behind ePub - it’s pretty much guaranteed to become very important.
Amazon might not want to fight ePub if it continues to strengthen at this rate – Instead of Kindle Vs ePub we might just see a 2010 Kindle update that adds ePub support.
eReaders continue to crash the party
Kindle vs eReaders became much more interesting as we saw -
- The Nook finally release and begin to reach customers.
- BenQ announce their nReader.
- Netronix announce an Android eReader for 2010.
- The release of Digibook, Pocketbook 901 and Scan eReaders.
- The announcement of Hearst’s Skiff Reader.
- Aluratek released the Libre eBook Reader PRO (it’s just $179).
We are getting a new eReader announced almost every day now.
Will this pace continue into 2010? Can it?
The last 8-9 weeks have been overwhelming – the Nook, the rise of ePub, Kindle going international, Amazon improving the Kindle, and new eReaders every week.
Surely, there’s no way this rapid speed of improvements and new additions could continue.
Actually there is.
- eReaders and eBooks are both promising to be multi-billion dollar businesses – just in the US.
- Both markets are still relatively open i.e. there is no huge dominating company.
- Publishers still control a lot of Publishing and they are desperate – which means lots of opportunities for smart or dishonest companies.
- A lot of people are still not aware of eReaders – which means no associations with one company or brand.
Perhaps, most importantly - There are a lot of different, unique markets and it’s extremely unlikely that one company dominates them all.
With eReaders and eBooks there are a ton of markets and niches
What works for the mass market won’t necessarily work for niche markets. This is even more unlikely when you consider that there are two interlinked markets i.e. eReaders and eBooks.
The eReader and eBook market is actually lots and lots of smaller markets -
- You get so many different sub-markets – work, school, books, magazines, newspapers, travel, college, and so forth.
- There are book rights for different territories.
- There are lots of different languages.
- There are regional quirks and other peculiarities.
- Different Publishers and Retailers own different markets.
It’s unlikely that the same company takes over both the US and Chinese markets. It’s even more unlikely that the same company also takes over the French and German markets.
Even if one device manufacturer miraculously wins most markets the war for eBook stores goes on and the war for Publishing goes on.
Amazon and Apple have infinite ambition – However, there will always be companies willing to take a 10% cut (instead of 30% or more) or focus on just selling eReaders.
With eReaders and eBooks you don’t have to be the #1 or #2 company to profit - There are lots of niches you can cater to and it’s easy to create your own little stream of gold.
Filed under: eBook Reader Devices Tagged: | eReader market size, ereader release dates
