Sony and Borders turn the page on e-books
Sony Electronics and Borders Group Inc. are teaming to sell online book-reading devices, a move Sony believes will spur sales of a new type of commerce-enabled handheld device and digital books.
Sony developed the Sony Reader as a handheld digital reading device that can store literally hundreds of books and other content. Under the joint merchandising agreement, Borders will sell the Sony Reader at about 200 of its bookstores while Sony will carry the device on SonyStyle.com and in its network of 30 Sony Style specialty stores.
The new Sony Reader will be available for purchase by summer. Sony, No. 7 in the Internet Retailer Top 400 Guide to Retail Web Sites, is introducing the digital reading device and an inventory of at least 1,000 e-books to appeal to the small but growing e-book market, which some analysts believe will generate annual sales of $300 million by 2010. By comparison the audio book market has yearly sales of about $800 million.
Sony currently is signing up book publishers for titles that readers can purchase and download from SonyConnect.com, its digital content site. Sony and Borders also will sell Sony prepaid cards at Borders that customers can redeem online at SonyConnect.com. “This agreement with Borders affords us the opportunity to showcase the Sony Reader directly to reading enthusiasts,” says Ron Hawkins, Sony Electronics vice president of portable reading services.
Sony will sell individual e-books for at least one-third off the full retail price and is looking at different pricing scenarios such as subscriptions, a Sony spokesman says.
Sony developed its e-book reader to be about the size of a paperback novel. It uses flash memory technology to store books and other content. With a Sony Reader and access to SonyConnect.com, users also can download online magazines, participate in reader blogging and receive other online content, Sony says.
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