Borders launches 'device neutral' eBooks store
by Stevie Smith - Jul 8 2010, 06:49
Supported by Kobo and a wealth of other devices. Image: Borders.
Hoping multi-platform saturation garners market dominance, American bookseller Borders has this week launched the new Borders eBooks store, which will be supported by its Kobo electronic reader along with PC and Macs, Apple's iPad, iPhone and iPhone Touch, BlackBerry and Android smartphones, and even Sony's rival Reader platform.
In terms of content and customer incentive offered up by the Borders eBooks store, it will carry more than 1.5 million titles available across the popular ePub and Adobe PDF digital formats (and mobile specific formats). It will also offer “thousands of free titles” along with money-saving benefits via the Borders Rewards loyalty program.
According to Mike Edwards, CEO of Borders Inc., the new store conveys a digital strategy focusing on “great content” and a “device-neutral philosophy” that will help the bookseller secure “about a 17 percent eBook market share by this time next year.”
Despite offering a wealth of content and device support, the Borders eBooks store may struggle to gain momentum in a sector already populated by the likes of Amazon's Kindle Store, Apple's iBooks Store, Barnes & Noble's Nook store, and the Sony Reader store – which are firmly established and supported by their own dedicated eReader devices and platform-expanding applications.
Another possible factor that might work against Borders in its push is that the $150 USD Kobo platform is a distinctly basic electronic reader that isn't as appealing as the recently unveiled and similarly priced Nook Wi-Fi.
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