HarperCollins Latest Publisher Pushing For Pricier Ebooks

Yet another publisher is using Apple’s iPad as a negotiating tool to force Amazon to raise prices on ebooks. Amazon is “ready to sit down” to talk with HarperCollins, according to Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp., owner of the publishing house.

“Apple — in its agreement with is, which has not been disclosed in detail — does allow for a variety of slightly higher prices,” Murdoch said during a recent earnings call. Although below the price for printed editions, Apple’s iBookstore ebook prices “will not be fixed in a way that Amazon has been doing it,” he added.

Although Amazon pays publishers the full price for their titles, the Seattle-based company sells the ebooks for $9.99, a decision book publishers feel devalues the worth of printed versions in the eyes of consumers.

Earlier this week, Macmillan forced Amazon to sell the publisher’s titles for $12.99 to $14.99, rather than the $9.99 the online retailer had previously required. In a statement to Kindle owners, Amazon said it had no choice but to ‘capitulate’ to the publisher, spinning the reversal as a win for smaller, alternative presses.

The showdown between Amazon and publishers over ebook pricing was presaged by earlier comments by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Speaking to Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal (owned by News Corp.), Jobs said publishers would begin balking at Amazon’s prices and eventually the Kindle and iPad would offer the same rates.

When Apple unveiled the iPad last week, both HarperCollins and Macmillan were named as publishers joining Apple’s product introduction.

DON'T MISS
Amazon ‘Capitulates’ Over Macmillan Ebook Pricing

[Via Murdoch transcript, 9to5Mac and AppleInsider]

6 comments »

About the author

Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.

(sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address)| Read more posts by Ed Sutherland.

Posted in News |

Asier
Pricing higher the digital versions (drm-restricted, you don’t have to forget that) devaluates completely the digital version itself. That’s true for me.
Charli
what’s interesting is that they really aren’t pushing for higher prices. they are pushing for the right to have higher prices.
apparently Amazon’s agreement gave them, not the publisher, price control. whereas Apple allows them to do what they wish within guidelines. a difference that will always make content creators/providers happy.
so these folks could end up going with the same $9.99 but it will be because they choose, not because it was shoved down their throats due to a lack of options.
Patrick
Currently I look at the price of an “ebook” for my Kindle and the printed version of the same book. If the price difference is within $3US I’ll buy the printed version. If ebook prices increase than the only benefit remaining is their portability. I fear publishers are behaving like so many corporate non-thinkers have in other areas and are going to end-up shooting themselves in the foot.
Ian
Another industry intent on shooting itself in the foot at the first signs of success… why are we surprised any more?
Instead of fixing current paper-book prices and offering lower-cost ebook porices, I think what the publishing companies are angling for is a pricing scheme that places future ebooks at the current paper-book pricing and future paper-book pricing at a premium value.
When Amazon was the only real ebook/reader seller, Amazon dictated the terms of the ebook experiment. With the ebook market starting to take off and with so many other readers and ebook stores coming online, collusion between the publishing houses is emboldening them to ride the ebook wave to gain overall higher book pricing. It’s a win-win for the publishing houses because even if people start to reject ebooks as a result, they will still be paying higher prices for paper-books.
porkchop1234
More corporate greed I see. Oh well theres enough places on the net for someone to down the latest titles for free. The music industry learned their lesson the hard way the movie industry is starting to learn it and looks like the book publishers will learn it in the near future.
@Charli
Don’t kid yourself buddy their not fighting for the right to set their own prices just to keep the 9.99 price tag they want more cash NOW.
http://www.economicinsights.ca srodgers
The margins on these digital books must be quite impressive, given that a single electronic file downloaded multiple times has replaced postage (online purchases) and sales staff, bricks and morter (bookstores).
It has opened another avenue for book sales, which may inspire another generation of readers.