Quote:
Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks
I'm not sure about the 100 percent market share.
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I meant that literally. One-hundred-point-zero percent.
Exclusivity deals are ways to add value to the ecosystem--B&N does them, too--but they are no guarantee of added market share. What they do is differentiate you from the generic vendors who don't have the resources to sign up even time-limited exclusives. (The same thing is happening in video games, where different retailers sign limited exclusivity deals to earn consumer loyalty.)
To get to 100% means nobody else survives and nobody else can get in.
We can agree that is not going to happen with ebooks, right?
Amazon obviously wants to be second to none and they want as high a share as possible but, contrary to myth, they have never shown a desire to bleed themselves to obliterate all competitors.
Simple test: has Amazon ever thrown a tantrum because a publisher gives B&N an exclusive? Have they ever stopped selling a pbook because the ebook is only availablle elsewhere? Amazon has been denied content available elsewhere and their response has been to move on.
Call them aggressive, call them greedy, call them cheap, and a case can be made for it.
But stupid they aren't and *seriously* trying for a 100% market share in what is strictly a middleman business would be outright stupidity.
It can't be done and even trying is going to land you in court.