MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Why Kobo didn't focus only on the U.S., home turf of Amazon

fjtorres · 07-06-2017, 01:24 PM

Jeeze.
Look at Amazon's market share year by year and you'll find their biggest growth came under Agency.
And it's growing even more under Agency Part Deux.

Price fixing, *everywhere* favors the big entrenched players, which in Canada is Kobo and the US Amazon, which is why it was and still is stupid for the big publishers to break the law that way. All they did was kill the smaller more agile players who were nibbling at Amazon's share and had them down to 54% ebook share when agency took hold. By the end of Agency they were up to 70% and stayed that way untill Agency Part Deux. Now they are not only up to 80%, but they've also boosted their print share past the 50% mark. It's not quite Indigo territory but it's getting there.

Amazon fear seems to drive otherwise smart executives to do really stupid things. Like undercutting Apple, Google, Nook, and kobo on the ebook side, just to boost print sales, which helps Amazon and nobody else. And only when Amazon chooses to boost print sales.

Every step they take to limit competition only makes them more dependent on Amazon.

07-06-2017, 01:24 PM	#18
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	Jeeze. Look at Amazon's market share year by year and you'll find their biggest growth came under Agency. And it's growing even more under Agency Part Deux. Price fixing, everywhere favors the big entrenched players, which in Canada is Kobo and the US Amazon, which is why it was and still is stupid for the big publishers to break the law that way. All they did was kill the smaller more agile players who were nibbling at Amazon's share and had them down to 54% ebook share when agency took hold. By the end of Agency they were up to 70% and stayed that way untill Agency Part Deux. Now they are not only up to 80%, but they've also boosted their print share past the 50% mark. It's not quite Indigo territory but it's getting there. Amazon fear seems to drive otherwise smart executives to do really stupid things. Like undercutting Apple, Google, Nook, and kobo on the ebook side, just to boost print sales, which helps Amazon and nobody else. And only when Amazon chooses to boost print sales. Every step they take to limit competition only makes them more dependent on Amazon. Last edited by fjtorres; 07-06-2017 at 01:26 PM.