Quote:
Originally Posted by murraypaul
Amazon Wireless sells someone else's phones. Mp3/Cloud Player someone else's music, Android Market someone else's apps.
They are a retailer. They sell things other people make. They are very good at it. They created the Kindle to create a market to sell someone else's books to.
They make money as a channel for selling content, and by doing it more efficiently than others.
|
I would normally agree w/ this wholeheartedly, but I think the very big bite that Apple has chosen to take out of their distribution profits might motivate them to branch into providing an iPad/NookColor competitive tablet.
I think Apple's demanding 30% of the price of every Amazon eBook sold through the app on any iOS devices. I wouldn't put up with that if I was Amazon--as you pointed out, they make money as the channel for content. Apple's move is just the thin (thick?) end of the wedge on eliminating Amazon's profitability as a content distributor. A low-profit tablet makes sense if it allows them to continue distributing and profiting on their eBooks, apps, streaming music/videos.
I hope they do it; I've been eying a NookColor as a gadget (not an eReader), and given the amount of content I buy through Amazon, I'd much rather buy something integrated with their services.