Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
Let’s drop the endless back and forth about North America and get on topic, please. You can take it to the Lounge if you’d like, if there’s really any interest in continuing it. 
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Thanks.
The service's significance as Kobo tries to engage Kindle on all its markets, including its Indie stronghold, should be bit more important than how fast it deploys in its new territory.
After all, KOBO Plus *doesn't* require exclusivity.
(It can't, if it is to get any traction.)
The combination of ebookstore and rental service gives it a leg up over the rest of the "we're not Kindle!" crowd trying to appeal to publishers " going wide". As KU provides a *lot* of revenue to smaller publishers having an alternative other than exclusivity to maximize revenue from the epub-ish side of the market.
The trick is getting enough small and Indie publishers to sign up to undercut KU. Canada is Kobo's stronghold so ramping up there makes sense since going "wide" (or at least Kobo+Kindle) signficantly feeds the bottom line there.
Worth keeping in mind is Kobo allowing Direct2Digital to sign up publishers and D2D's primary business is in the US. They wouldn't be bothering with that if they weren't planning to move south once they build a respectably large catalog.
Like NIA it'll show up...soon enough.
