Summary
Google's plan should expand the appeal of E-books, thereby benefiting various platforms for reading E-books.
Analysis
Google's plan will have several effects on the E-book market. First, it will increase the number of E-books available to consumers. Second, it will give authors choice in publishers. Third, it will put E-books on new web enabled devices, like cellphones and netbooks.
But Google's action may actually help the Kindle. Here's why.
1. Consumers decide whether to buy the Kindle not primarily on the number of available titles, but on whether they like the Kindle platform. The critical decision factor is whether the consumer want to read a hard copy, or is willing to read a book on the Kindle. Consumers consider the Kindle's size, readability of text, and ability to "thumb through" the book in the making the hard copy/E-book choice.
2. By increasing the availability of E-books, the plan may increase the acceptance of E-books. This could help all the various platforms for reading E-books, including the Kindle. By giving consumers a choice of how they can read E-books, the Kindle will face increased competition. At the same time, if the total size of the E-book market grows, it is highly unlikely that Kindle will be crushed. Consumers will be choosing between reading E-books on cellphones, Kindle, laptops, etc. Some consumers might choose to read E-books on Kindle because of text size, readability, form function, and perhaps greater functionality particular to E-books. Google's action should spur Amazon to improve Kindle's features, and therefore its appeal to consumers.
