The iPad, the Kindle and the Future of Digital Publishing

Reading books on the iPad

Apple’s iPad is giving ebook downloads a huge boost – 300,000 iPads were sold on the first day of its launch and more than 250,000 books were downloaded.  Apple’s Steve Jobs said "iPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad."  The iPad will be available in UK at the end of April and there is huge speculation as to its impact on the ebook and e-reader markets.

Pricing models and agreements with publishers are known unknowns right now and not all publishers will have digital content available via Amazon unless they can reach agreement with the online retailer. On the positive side for ebook buyers, some commentators say the expected intense competition between Apple’s iBookstore and Amazon might help keep prices down, though this may not logically follow as not many people are expected to own both an iPad and the Kindle – the strong competition may help improve the performance of e-readers but  may in the short term help the alter the price points of ebooks  - it may be of more commercial benefit to publishers.   

Apple’s store currently offers  c. 90,000 titles (30,000 of which are available free of charge) whereas the Kindle has about 450,000 – this imbalance will change over the coming year.  The key point among all these figures is that the volume of e-reader sales (including the iPad) and ebooks for sale would strongly suggest a good future for digital publishing.