Quote:
Originally Posted by ZodWallop
That ship sailed long ago. Agency pricing killed the indie ebook stores and selling devices at near cost killed the profitability in making an ereader not tied to a store.
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I don't necessarily agree.
First, there are many store models other than pure price point. Heck, even if you want to compete on price, you can get around agency pricing simply by using things like loyalty discounts or things like cash back. That's what PetSmart does. I get cash back that I can apply to my next purchase when I buy pet supplies. So, pointing to agency pricing simply implies a lack of imagination by the eBook store.
I also disagree with regards to device price points. Amazon has eReader devices ranging from $130 to $180 for the paperwhite and $250 to $350 for the Oasis. Kobo ranges from $120 to $280. So there are lots of price points that people will buy at. That doesn't even include reading on your tablet or smartphone.
Right now, the two biggest eBook stores in the US seem to be Amazon and Apple. The estimated market share varies a lot depending on who you ask. I've seen Amazon's market share estimated anywhere from 67% to 80%, with Apple's market share somewhere around 20% once again, the actual share depends on who is doing the estimating.
I suspect that quality eBook readers could likely compete, the real question is what is the market share of eBook readers verses tables. Is it significant or is it a niche market?
With regards to eBook stores, I think there are a number of factors. First, there is the question of how easy is it to get your purchase into whatever you use to read the eBook. Then you have the how much you spend on eBooks. Also, you have eBook catalog. Then you have customer experience.
I wonder how successful independent eBook stores would be if there was a standardized way of easily getting eBooks on your eBook reading device of choice. If that particular issue was solved, I can see things like genre specific eBook stores popping up.