Apple and Digital Publishers of Union to Be Smashed

Steve jobs ambitiously signed the digital music distributor, but he did not keep the alliance between Apple and digital publishers because of his death. Now iBookstore is in the risk of disruption by the United States justice department.
According to Bloomberg reported, the U.S. justice department has reached a reconciliation between the three big bookseller and Apple about the ebook prices. According to a Wall Street journal of news, reconciliation is the bad results for Apple, the U.S. justice department will allow Amazon and other retailers to sell e-books at low price, which conflicts to Apple’s "most-favoured-nation treatment" consignment model. Apple will have to decrease or even stop selling ebooks.
The news of the Bloomberg news, CBS's Simon&Schuster, the United States, Harper Collins, the United States, and Hachette, France, the three big publishers will agree with the U.S. department of justice understanding memorandum next week. But the official news, wait until Pearson Group's Penguin Group, hall watts link publishing Group of cloth Macmillan Germany all reach a settlement with the U.S. department of justice will only be revealed.
As early as in two years ago, at the iPad release, the U.S. justice department began searching for more than five big apple and disintegration of the alliance between the publishers. In the apple and five publishers in the agreement, apple can through the "agency model" to gain ebook sales 30% income, the mode is the same as and the App Store model.
Opposite to Apple, Amazon is applying wholesale mode. Amazon takes a book from publisher there, then freedom to set prices. Amazon model is the traditional bookseller sales model, but it is really the good mode to decrease the price of ebooks - many of them are less than 10 dollars and customers can even get many free Kindle Fire comic books and magazines from Amazon. Together with the various discount, low piece makes Amazon once had monopolize the ebook market.

Apple's agreement once help publishers to get rid of Amazon’s low-cost troubles. Because in publishers opinion, Amazon influences even threatened is long and far-reaching: people get used to cheaper and cheaper e-books, and they even don’t willing to spend money on buying ebooks for Kindle Fire. papery book sales and prices are in increasing pressure. Finally in the Amazon and consumers publisher before losing discourse.
But the fact has come out and publishers seems can’t do anything. The U.S. justice department in the last month for Apple and five publishers issued a warning that says they suspected of conspiracy to improve the ebook prices, plan for a lawsuit. Later a few companies start negotiations with the justice department, trying to reach a settlement, avoid to court. After January, now out of camp have three publishers to reach a settlement.
However, this is a good news for consumers: low price can continue to enjoy the ebook. But may not be happy for Steve Jobs. In the Steve Jobs biography, he expressed his books view:
Amazon screwed up. It bought some books in the wholesale price, but with less than the cost of $9.99 for sales. Publishers to detest, will it affect their prices to $28 sales hardcover ability. Therefore, in the Apple is not into the ebook field before, some bookseller had ceased to Amazon for books. So, we with publishers said, "we are adopting an agency model, you set price, we take into 30%. Indeed, consumers will give more some money, but anyway, this is what you want the results." However, we also request, if there are other place than we sell cheaper, then we can also at lower prices for sale. So, they find the Amazon said, "you have to sign an agency contract with us, or we won't give you the book."
But Steve Jobs said Apple can take two modes at the same time, because Apple "is not the first one into the book business". In the area of digital music, what Steve Jobs insisted on an agency model, because they are pioneers. This means that, even by the justice department and the covenant of publishers pieces, and apple will sell the ebook. In the long term, subject to the loss of only the ancient long-term accounts for the publisher of the monopoly position.
According to Reuters reported, ebook industry in 2008 has only the scale of 78 million dollars, by 2011, the industry scale reached 1.7 billion us dollars; This year is will grew to $3.55 billion scale. The industry of the two manufacturers--Amazon and apple downstream, at present are not much revenue. Amazon although in this year's ebook income is expected to reach us $1.1 billion, to $1.6 billion next year, but the gross profit almost no growth. For Apple, electronic books but is an income of $50 million, for 100 billion income, it is small.
But for Apple, and textbook market is still a piece of heaven. For this reason, Apple has special conference held in New York, will iBook upgraded to 2.0 version, textbook moved to iPad. In the iBook electronic textbooks, students can slide page, browse around the page, watch embedded video rich, provides book problem sets in, support fund notes and highlight review... High school textbook iBook electronic price shall not be higher than $14.99 for each book, which is half cheaper than the market. In addition, students can get a part of free text books from Goolge if hey know how to download ebooks from Google. Anyway, the textbook plan is still the hope of Apple.