Originally Posted by DMcCunney
No argument. My point is simply that big outfits need big numbers to justify doing something. Management is essentially the custodian of Other People's Money, with a responsibility to invest funds where they will get the best return. Corporations fold underperforming divisions and exit lines of business that aren't producing the desired returns on a regular basis.
Given that, it's possible that Sony or Amazon might decide the ebook experiment wasn't working out, and decide to exit the business. I would class Sony as more likely to pull the plug, because they are approaching the business from a different direction than Amazon.
Sony makes consumer electronic devices. They are a B2B firm, normally selling to retailers who sell to users. They decided to make a dedicated ebook reader, and had to create the infrastructure to provide content for it and sell directly to the consumer, and arrange for content it could display.
Amazon distributes a wide variety of products to end users. They already had the infrastructure for selling directly to consumers. They were also already a major book seller, with existing contacts with publishers whose paper books they sold. They could design a dedicated ebook reader, contract the manufacture to an offshore vendor, sell it through their site, and use their publishing connections to arrange for content it could display. Publishers were reassured by DRM provisions, and Amazon would do the actual sales and distribution, relieving publishers of the need to set up to sell directly to consumers. They could deal with Amazon like any other wholesaler, distributor, or retail chain they dealt with, and they didn't face the prospect of returns.
I see Sony's motivation in creating the reader as having yet another consumer device to sell, which required obtaining content for the device. I see Amazon's motivation as being able to sell yet another variety of content, which required having a device to display it.
Essentially, for Sony, I think it's about the Reader, whereas for Amazon, I think it's about the ebooks. This makes me feel Amazon is more likely to be in for the long haul than Sony.
(And if the Kindle experiment and ebooks work out, I'd expect to see more along those lines. How about an Amazon branded video player, with movies available at better than elsewhere prices from Amazon if you have their player?)
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Dennis
Who actually hopes both the Kindle and the Sony Reader are sold/supported for a long time, even if he isn't interested in either.
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