This is a response to Business Insiders’ Apple’s iBookstore Is Looking Like A Rare Flop:
The iBookstore isn’t a failure because Apple hasn’t seriously tried. However, the fact that Steve Jobs was interested in books at all is telling.
Apple has made little effort to seriously prioritize iBooks within their ecosystem. iOS devices don’t even ship with iBooks. All other Apple content stores are hardwired into iOS, even the upcoming Newsstand is included in iOS5. It is quite apparent that Apple only views iBooks only as one of hundreds of reasons to purchase an iOS device.
Success at Apple is defined not only by profitability, but by disrupting an entire industry, and leveraging that disruption into an immense head start in market share. Under that definition, Apple’s only successful content ventures can be tied to success of their dedicated platforms: The iTunes Music store, via the iPod, and the App Store, via iOS.
The iBooks app lacks any positive differentiation between its iOS competitors – aside from the monopoly of having a Store button. The only moments that Apple has been able to differentiate iBooks were significant yawns: First-to-market on fixed format and sync-to-text (read-aloud).
Apple has no dedicated reading platform and Apple is in the hardware business. They sell personal technology and operate content stores to make that technology more valuable. Nook and Kindle are commanding the market not only because they have dedicated platforms—which lead to better user experiences—but both B&N and Amazon are content stores that sell hardware to make their content more valuable.
Looking to video as a roadmap may help to clarify Apple’s mind: Video was introduced in 2005 to the iTunes store to add value to the iPod. In 2007, Apple released the AppleTV set top box, calling it a “hobby.” Now Apple is widely rumored to be entering the $30B+ living room entertainment market with an Apple HDTV.
It is possible that Apple views the iBookstore as a hobby. But Apple doesn’t just take up hobbies, so they must believe there is a multi-billion dollar opportunity for them. Apple has acquired content, so this begs the question: Does Apple have a dedicated reading device in their pipeline?
Related:
The Daily Mail – Jobs Left Plans for 4 Years of New Products
