Apple entrance into ebook market rumors

[Alexander Turcic]

Eagle-eyed reader tipster Andres came across this interesting article citing Andy Ihnatko, technology journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times.

"It's absolutely a lock that at some point, Apple will start selling books on the iTunes Store," he said. "That has been the goal for Apple all along – a store where every kind of digital media will be sold. One of their goals has always been to make devices that can play all kinds of different media. It's a win-win for Apple. They make a huge amount of money on software sales, for instance, and they also make a huge mark-up on every device that they sell, so that's exactly what they want to do."

And further, regarding the possible introduction of some kind of large form iPod Touch:

"We don't know exactly what they're doing," Ihnatko said of Apple's plans for the larger touch-screen reader. "As with everything that happens with Apple, you know they've already built something like this, and they've probably built three of them by now. And they're usually waiting for some magical light to come on in Cupertino that says, 'Yes, right now it makes sense for us to put this on the market.' But I've always thought that the device we're looking at would be about half the size of a MacBook screen. So we're talking somewhere around 3" x 5" or 5" x 7", or something around there. Now we don't know exactly when that's going to happen."

So what do we really know? At some point, Apple will release a new device. If may feature a larger screen and have the right power-saving technology to seriously challenge Amazon, Sony, and the likes.

And we know it will be pretty.

Related: Andy Ihnatko - How Apple Could Make E-books Work

[David Munch]

Well, it would probably be a worthy contester for the Kindle, since its pretty expensive (IMHO).

If they make a iPhoneish eBook, I'l buy it in a heart beat though.

[Spectrum]

It is about the time..Given the Apple innovation hope it is not E-ink based but something of their own but better.. not copycating that they are experts in!

[HarryT]

Mr. Jobs has publically stated that "people don't read any more", so why would sell books to a non-existant market?

[strangeseraph]

That, or Apple is waiting for colour e-ink? Why would Apple, which is about colourful flashy technology want a black and white device?

[Over]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Mr. Jobs has publically stated that "people don't read any more", so why would sell books to a non-existant market?

He will just say that it's time to encourage people to read again. And what better way than the whole ereader and ebook concept?

Amazon, if nothing else, proved that there's a market. The sucessive news about new ereaders, just shows everyone is starting to take more seriously this market. I can imagine why Apple wouldn't like to be left behind.

[Wario]

This what the market need good competition.

More important is which format will apple take. Every one seem to making Ereader that only solely works best on their own systems.
Apple already has a itune base system set, only need to add the ebook contents.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Mr. Jobs has publically stated that "people don't read any more", so why would sell books to a non-existant market?

I think that was just code for "we don't want to talk about it, as we don't want to encourage possible competitors"

He said much the same thing about video on iPods.

But I don't expect to see a dedicated ebook reader from Apple anytime soon. Although it's just possible that Apple might produce ebook reader software for the iPod Touch/iPhone and open up an ebook section of the iTunes stores.

Meanwhile, I'll happily use my CyBook, and wait for a more robust replacement ot come along in due course from Bookeen or someone else.

[layel]

It's and excellent and cool news.

Mr.Jobs will show its geninus in reading field. I hope he can supply an excellent device to compat both apple music store and application store.

[daffy4u]

Since SJ is out for a while (I know he isn't well and I hope he gets better), it's the perfect time for "someone else" to take the reigns to bring Apple on board. This will keep SJ from losing face, as it were, for his unfortunate statement.

[KindleDude]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Mr. Jobs has publically stated that "people don't read any more", so why would sell books to a non-existant market?

He also said something like "no one wants to watch video on a tiny screen" a few months before the Touch came out. Jobs likes to surprise the market.

[thibaulthalpern]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Mr. Jobs has publically stated that "people don't read any more", so why would sell books to a non-existant market?

Has he? I saw that somewhere too but it was actually an imagined scenario. It was a journalist imagining what would happen if Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs were in conversation.

[Steve Jordan]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I think that was just code for "we don't want to talk about it, as we don't want to encourage possible competitors"

If so, it was a pretty silly stance.

Apple, if they decide to get into the e-books market as a major force, now has a lot of inertia to overcome first, mainly in terms of Amazon and formats. It would have been easier if they had taken a hand early on in guiding the e-book industry in a direction they would prefer, than to have to go through the trouble of making everyone convert to their way after Kindle has taken the market. It's the difference between easily assuming a dominant position, and kicking everyone else over on your bloody way to the top.

As for Andy's opinions about the "inner workings" of Apple: Shyeah, right. "Apple's done three readers already"! Next thing you'll be telling us is that they've already visited Andromeda, where they'll be bringing back the dilithium crystals that will power their next device...

[Moejoe]

Didn't apple also publicly state they would never realease a phone? I can't find the quotation at the moment, but I'm sure they made statements along those lines. In any case, I doubt it will be a dedicated e-book reader they release. They'll make some kind of hybrid between the netbook, e-reader and tablet. Probably, as earlier rumors state, something along the lines of a larger iPhone/iTouch.

[radleyp]

For all of you who need to know, Steve Jobs made that statement about no one reading books anymore in a New York Times interview with the Times' technology guru, David Pogue, and he added that a significant proportion of Americans (I think it was 60%) had read one book or less in the previous year. If Apple produces a device that is suitable for reading periodicals and newspapers then I think it can succeed, but I just don't see Apple producing a book-reading device at this point: ebooks are a tiny factor in the marketplace right now and people are not reading books the way they used to (Jobs' numbers came from outside studies, not Apple). Moreover, we have a number of companies announcing new e-reading devices every month: I don't think there are enough buyers out there for all of them, and if too many are produced and fail to sell, it will be a black mark for ebooks and ereaders.