The Amazon Kindle, first released in 2007, was prophesied to revolutionize the book industry and mark the transformation from print to e-book. After three hardware devices, the Kindle, Kindle 2 and Kindle DX, Amazon says that the e-reader is its best-selling product. This past Christmas, Amazon passed another hallmark when it sold more e-books than print books for the first time, as new Kindle users rushed to download books for their latest Christmas gadget.
Although bookseller Barnes and Noble and companies such as Sony and Samsung released e-readers of their own, the Kindle has remained the indisputable king of e-books. In fact, Amazon's first major threat may come in the form of Apple's iPad, which was unveiled a week ago. The tablet-style computer will be equipped with e-book reading capability, and the announcement of a new Apple bookstore reveals efforts to break into the e-book market.
So far, the general consensus from publishing experts seems to be that the iPad cannot compete with devices such as the Kindle 2 - which is half the price and half the size - but Amazon still is worried about the future of its Kindle DX, which features a 9.7-inch screen and prices at $489, making it comparable to the iPad.
The biggest factor in the e-book battle, however, is individual e-book pricing. Amazon currently sells e-books for about $10, while Apple projects its pricing to be about $15; Amazon now may have to raise prices to compete with Apple.
Amazon's pricing has been a source of strife between the distributor and book publishers, as publishers tend to favor higher prices. At the beginning of December, Amazon suffered criticism when founder Jeff Bezos revealed that Amazon kept 65 percent of all e-book revenue. After critics noted that Apple's App Store offered 70 percent royalties to publishers, Bezos responded with a similar program for Kindle publishers who meet certain regulations.
This dispute merely foreshadowed what would be termed, "The Great E-Book War" by blogs and tweets. Last weekend, the feud broke into the open when Amazon pulled all Macmillan titles in both hardcover and e-book format - a drastic decision. Since then, though, Amazon has made a concession with Macmillan, letting the publisher set book prices. Macmillan, which has published books by authors such as Orson Scott Card and Pablo Neruda, is one of the six publishing giants of America. It also became one of the first publishers to sign with Apple's new iBookstore. Although this was probably a contributing factor to the fallout, the argument climaxed because of Amazon's pricing decisions. Macmillan fears that the $9.99 pricing for e-books will undermine royalties and tighten margins that are already meager - within the media world, the book industry is notoriously unprofitable.
It's difficult to say who is in the right or wrong in this scenario. But this battle represents what could be the first in a series of conflicts as the book industry undergoes the arduous transformation from print publication to e-book format. One can only hope that consumer needs do not get swallowed by the disagreement.
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