According to the Wall Street Journal, HarperCollins has been in talks with Apple to produce more than just standard e-books for the rumored Apple Tablet.
The standard e-books, being text with an occasional picture, have been going for $9.99 as a standard price. Brian Murray, chief executive of HarperCollins, claims that enhanced e-books, containing video, author interviews, and other features, could fetch price tags between $14.99 and $19.99. The tablet will be a significant competitor for Amazon’s Kindle and it will be interesting to see how its introduction affects the e-book market. I anticipate that in order for people to really accept the idea of e-books, they will need to be accessible on more than one device. However, history shows that Apple typically creates closed systems.
The biggest question, although it seems obvious, is where would the items be sold? Would they be sold only through iTunes or through a brand new store? My guess is that the items will be sold through iTunes with the standard 70/30 split, unless Apple really wants to put the screws to Amazon by negotiating with the publishers more of an 80/20 split.
Image Source Photo Giddy on flickr
Article Source Wall Street Journal
