Google (GOOG) is about to release an e-book program which will allow consumers to download content onto PCs and portable electronics devices. It is a direct competitor to Amazon’s (AMZN) e-book reader, the Kindle. The Google product has several advantages.
The Kindle is relatively expensive. with a prices as high as $359. The Google e-book program will work with consumer electronics devices that most people already own.
The Google download store will give publishers a great deal of control over how they price their content. The Kindle download program does not, which makes it somewhat unattractive to publishers already facing falling sales and margins on paper books.
The Kindle looked like it might be the only game in town for publishers who wanted to be in the e-book business. That is not longer true, which means that the Amazon product may not do as much for sales of the e-commerce giant as analysts thought it would.
Douglas A. McIntyre
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks