Publishers warned on short-term pricing for e-books

A leading technology analyst has warned publishers not to take a short-term view of the e-publishing market.

Paolo Pescatore, of CCS Insight, the technology industry analysts, said that though publishers appeared to be gaining the upper hand, there was a need for caution. He noted that e-books had yet to properly take-off, suggesting that new deals may force the likes of Amazon, Apple and Google to push up prices and stifle the emerging market.

He said: “Ultimately, will the publishers prevail? We all talk about the opportunity that exists, but will people want to buy these devices and actually download e-publications? That remains unproven.”

A recent dispute between Macmillan and online retailer Amazon, saw the publisher win the right to set prices for its books. Amazon had wanted to peg cover prices far lower than those for physical product.

Publishers saw this as a move to push sales of its Kindle e-book reader, which already has a 55% market share in the US. Fearing an impending monopoly, Macmillan demanded Amazon raise the price of e-books in the US. Previously, Amazon had set the price of $9.99 for titles, but from March, Macmillan titles will be priced at $12.99 to $14.99, with Amazon taking a reduced 30 per cent cut of the sales.

These are thought to be the same terms reached between Apple and five major publishers; Hachette Book Group, Macmillan, Penguin Group, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins.