Guardian reporting:
High street newsagent and bookseller WH Smith is throwing down the gauntlet to US internet firm Amazon with a rival ebook reader it hopes will be a "Kindle killer".
Its
chief executive, Kate Swann, has struck a deal with Canadian firm Kobo
to sell its eponymous e-readers, costing from £89.99, and a library of
2.2m books from next week. The retailer will receive a share of the
profits on all the Kobo ebooks bought in the UK.
The
partnership would give the retailer a presence in a developing market
and "complement its traditional books business", Swann said.
Analysts are concerned the increasing popularity of electronic books poses a threat to WH Smith,
where book sales are already falling. Swann countered, however, that
although high street demand for printed books "continued to be soft" the
ebook market was still small, and that devices like the Kobo were aimed
at heavy readers and early adopters.
"The reason that we're
moving aggressively into ebooks is because we believe if ebooks are
ultimately successful that they'll be incremental for us, given [that]
our physical books customer base tends to be lighter book readers," she
said.
The ebook market was 90% fiction sales, Swann said, adding
that the average WH Smith customer bought three books a year, two of
which were in the non-fiction or children's sections.
WH Smith
reported a 4% increase in profits to £93m in the year to 31 August,
despite a 5% decline in like-for-like sales. Book sales fell by 4% but
the travel business, based largely in airports and railway stations,
made record profits of £57m.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/oct/13/wh-smith-launches-ebook-reader-deal
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