Quote:
Originally Posted by EricLandes
They emphasized the market fundamentally shifted this past Christmas.
|
Fundamental market shift? Yes.
Christmas? Probably a bit earlier--say, august--though.
Nonetheless, I expect they are referring to the fact that the market has changed from one dominated by hobbyists and avid readers to a balanced market that more closely resembles the greater book-buying population.
As for the sales report on Mr Follett's book, while the actual number has some news value, the actual report is more of a "dog bites man" nature. Most people already understand the inverse relationship between the price of commodities and their sales volume. (Maybe even inside the BPHs.) By now every ebook retailer afflicted with the so-called Agency Pricing scheme (except Apple) probably has similar anecdotes to tell.
2010 was notable for two things above all:
1- ebooks became mainstream commodities in North America
2- the non-competitive pricing scheme instituted by the Price-Fix Five
2011 will likely see the same two development spread to other, less developed markets, including some that will likely welcome price-fixing. So we'll see more reports along the lines of both those sources.
Barring another reader price reset, we will also see a shift in North America from an ebook market dominated by new reader buyers stocking up to one dominated by the installed base and their long-term *buying* habits. And I suspect that both the reader market and the ebook market will start showing seasonality, much as other content markets do.
Expect a new wave of drop-out vendors, either way.