E-Readers - part I

Earlier this week, I attended a panel presentation of the state of the E-Reader market with panelists from Sony, HP and Barnes & Noble. I had a few interesting take aways from this event.

1. Do E-books threaten publishers?
E-books will still need publishers to brand, market and sell. While there may be some very few , popular authors who may decide not to go to a publisher and use the e-book channel to go directly to the consumer, it is not expected that the publisher role will be impacted.

2. Considering that e-books are cheaper than physical books, will the total sales in dollar terms decrease?
While a physical book sells for $25, the same book in e-format sells for $12.95 with 70% share to the publisher and 30% share to the e-book sales channel. This is almost 50% reduction in the average selling price. However, the economics will still favor the e-reader market as new reading habits and selling patterns develop. E-readers provide for better discoverability, easier shopping experience, instant gratification (unlike ordering a book and receiving it later), recommendations based on users' preferences and integration with social media of content thereby increasing the total sales. New selling patterns such as being able to sell a portion of the book will increase the total audience.

3. Will i-pads and other tablets kill e-readers?
While there was no convincing answer from the panelists, the price points of an e-reader, battery life, less strain for the eye, e Ink display (better for reading and certainly on the beach on a sunny day) will be some of the key distinct features of e-readers atleast for the near future. It is my opinion that the market will continue for e-readers but there will be some overlap of users who would just use a tablet for multiple purposes including reading.