Report: Apple Envisions $15 Ebooks for Tablet

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Credit: Vicki's Pics/Flickr.com
Credit: Vicki's Pics/Flickr.com

While all that seems left in the tablet controversy is for CEO Steve Jobs to unveil the wunder gadget, there are many threads left untied for this present to the technology world, namely pricing. To that end, Apple has conducted “11th hour negotiations” with publishers, the goal being to hammer out new pricing for e-books. The Cupertino, Calif. company believes a $15 price tag for books could become a best-selling idea for publishers seeking a way to cash-in on the flood of e-books.

Apple is talking about pricing e-books between $12.99 and $14.99 for its upcoming tablet device. The arrangement would give Apple a 30 percent cut, leaving publishers with $10.49, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday night. The plan would give publishers less than the $14.50 book producers receive when sold on Amazon, but throwing their lot in with Apple could rebalance a power shift many in the industry thought tilted too far in the direction of the giant online book-seller. Although publishers received more money from Amazon, the company insisted on a $9.99 price tag for e-books, which many book firms felt could make readers hesitate paying more for a printed book.


Although HarperCollins was named as being in “serious negotiations” with Apple, the CEO of textbook publisher McGraw Hill, Terry McGraw, told CNBC his company has been working with Apple “for quite a while.” Numerous other publishers have announced plans to sell books and magazines through the tablet.

One of the biggest fans of the tablet, The New York Times, reportedly has been working at Cupertino to help translate its iPhone app to one that will work on the iPhone OS-powered tablet. The newspaper’s publisher, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., said earlier he wouldn’t attend Wednesday’s announcement. However, the WSJ reports publishers taking part in the launch won’t need to be on hand: “their books could appear on the device when it is shipped in March.”

Apple is expected to make an announcement at 10 a.m. Pacific, or 1 p.m. Eastern.

[Via AppleInsider, WSJ]

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