[stonetools]

You have to be realistic about things. BN wrote this letter because its acting in its economic self-interest, as is every other coroprate actor here.
Looking at folks excoriating BN because its too "lazy" to compete with Amazon or because its pursuing an "outdated business model", I'm reminded of the military history adage " Amateurs talk about tactics and professionals talk about the logistics.' The reason why Amazon can out compete BN and other retailers comes down to one thing: Amazon can afford to lose money on sales of ebook bestsellers because of other revenue streams, and BN and other retailers can't. Everything else, is in the words of Penn Juliette, BULLS**T!
What it means is that any "discount scheme", "loyalty program", "new workflow", or what not that BN can come up with , Amazon can match or exceed it. Because Amazon has a logistical advantage in unrestricted price competition, there is really going to by only one result in an ebook market with permits that: domination by Amazon-which is bad news for Amazon ebook suppliers (whether they be BPHs or authors, btw).
Now BN and Kobo have taken advantage of the breathing space offered by two years of agency pricing to get rich partners, so maybe agency pricing has achieved the stated goal of increasing retailer diversity. Most analysts seem to think that if unrestricted price competition returns , Amazon's share of the ebook market, which has shrunk to 60 per cent, will return to monopsonistic levels. We'll see.