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If books were not fungible, then there would be no reason to collude on prices as publishers do not sell the same title, and the books would not be in competition because they would not be interchangeable. For example, there would be no point in Nike and Ford colluding on prices. Their products are not interchangeable with one another.
If books are fungible, then there is reason to collude on prices, as it could increase profits. Now, the article argues that the collusion did not hurt consumers, as there were lower priced books available. However, it does not address the issue that some books can be fungible with others, while other books may not be. This leads me to believe that the big publishing houses believe that some of their books are fungible with one another, while other books are not. This would explain the necessity of collusion, rather than one company simply raising prices. It also explains why the lower priced books would not undermine their higher prices.
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