Introduction
In the current world of digitalization, e-books and digital books have dominated. They finally leave the computer, as they are readable on external devices. The technology of e-book readers has taken e-book reading to an edge over the print media. The market is now flooded with various e-readers. Having a good e-reader is an essential part of making the reading enjoyable. But deciding on what model to buy is a confusing task.
Ebook Reader Becomes a Winner Take all Market
Among the brand names, Amazon will continue to be the market leader with 60%share of global shipments in 201. Barnes and Noble, and Sony have been fighting for second place with a narrow margin. North America has become the biggest market for e-readers. In the European market also e-book vendors have largely expanded their presence. It is expected that, by 2014, global e-book reader shipments will reach 63 million units. This kind of growth points out that it will capture the world market shortly. “Without doubt one of the most hotly contested markets in the next few years will be for e-book readers” (Mchaney 63).
Sources of Network of Externalities in the E-reader Market
When the value of a product and its technology service depends on other entities using it, it is called network externalities. Direct network externalities include telephones-commerce and the internet etc. In this context, the source of network externalities can be internet and e-commerce.
Amazon the Market Leader but Sony is Fighting Back
Amazon’s Kindle range is well known for being the first and foremost leader in offering wireless connectivity to users. Since then, Amazon has been known as the pioneers of the e-reading market. Kindle dominates in the market due to their ability in producing readers with wireless connectivity. Apart from this, it is known for its ability to handle 3G and WI-FI. Though Sony was the first to launch an e-reader, it still lags behind its rival, Amazon kindle… Users of the Sony e-reader have to connect their e-reader device with PC; this is the key mistake from Sony’s side. Kindle offers free the wireless air downloads of books with cutting edge technologies Sony is fighting back.
The daily edition offers landscape orientation and portrait. Sony launched a five-inch screen device worth $200 and a six-inch touch screen model worth $300. Amazon’s Kindle 2 e-reader with six inches sells for $300, and a 907-inch screen costs $490. Both are without a touch screen. Compared to Kindle, Sony has another defect and it is in its access to content. Amazon’s leading position in the e-reader market helps the company to offer a variety of eBooks to its buyers. They are easy to download and can be obtained at a competitive price. For providing library access to end-users Sony has started its partnership with an e-book distributor. Sony will adopt an open EPub which helps customers to purchase or download books from stores of Sony. While Amazon uses a kind of file format that only helps users to read books. “The device brand isn’t as important as the content: success will increasingly depend on the strength of the relationship between reader and content provider” (Maisto par. 9).
Conclusion
Without a doubt in the battle of dominance for the e-reader market currently, Amazon’s kindle was ahead of Sony. But with cutting edge technologies Sony will be fighting back to gain market leader position. Surely, e-book reader will become a winner take all market.
Works Cited
Maisto, Michelle. E-Reader Sales to Nearly Double Between 2012 and 2013: ABI Research. ABI Research. eWeek.com. 2010. Web.
Mchaney, Roger. The New Digital Shoreline. Stylus Publishing, LLC. 2011. Print.