Google to take on Apple with e-book store

Google negotiates with publishers and looks set to take on Apple with the launch of its new electronic bookstore – Google Editions.

Following talk of Apple’s e-bookstore and Amazon’s step-down in a row with Macmillan over pricing, Google is expected to offer publishers a higher share of the sale of e-books.

Google initially offered publishers a cut of 63 to 66 per cent of the retail price of a book. In return it would have the right to set retail prices. One other condition they pursued was that readers would be allowed to print out their books or copy segments. Recent events have seen publishers ask for a 70% cut and  insist they set prices.

It is believed that allowing buyers to print copies from Google Editions, or enabling the copying of extracts, is also now off the table.

Wholesale revenue from e-book sales in the US tripled in the third quarter of 2009 to $46.5 million from $13.9 million from the same period in the previous year. Estimates suggest that Amazon has sold 2.4 million Kindle devices, with a market share of 55 per cent.