The London Book Fair (LBF) is not much to write home about, although there is something about the spectacle of Chinese apparatchiks shooting the breeze with what appear to be battalions of enhanced women from Eastern Europe.
But, LBF is the latest theatre in the tablet wars. The saga of Waterstones and the Barnes&Noble Nook continues. The companies have apparently agreed to enter partnership, after months of secret deliberations which were conducted in anything but secret. However, any official announcement has been pushed back until the summer. This deal has been dragging on for nearly a year, during which time the opposition has gone from strength to strength.
In that time, the very swish Kobo has been launched in Britain through WHSmith. Kobo has been making fighting talk at LBF. The company intends to extend its franchise in Britain, both through Smiths and other retailers. CEO, Mike Serbinis, told yesterday’s Bookseller that it will not be easy for a new tablet to break into Britian now that the Kobo accounts for a ‘double digit’ share of the eBook market.
The planned drive is a part of a global push to launch Kobo in new European, Asian and Latin American regions after a strong performance last year in countries like France, where Kobo claims to be outselling Kindle by a ratio of 2 to 1, both in tablet and eBook sales. The device is expected to become available in 12 more countries this year. The company is also planning to launch a self-publishing tool, which have been a popular feature on rival Kindle and Nook tablets.
The assault on Amazon has begun. But the major issue is the allegations of price-fixing in America against Apple and five publishers, the implications of which are potentially enormous to the traditional publishing trade. Fevered talk about that dominates the LBF.
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