But Amazon's ability to serve the burgeoning digital demand is the reason it has achieved such a major place in the market. Libraries prefer CDs, and some still carry audiobooks on cassettes, which have otherwise virtually disappeared. There are a half-dozen or so independent producers, and the largest publishers maintain their own audiobook divisions and can sell downloads from their websites. While it has the overwhelming presence in audiobooks, Amazon is not the exclusive provider of them. In the next survey of audiobook use, which is currently being conducted, experts predict the digital percentage will surpass 70 percent. With the CD market on a sharp downward curve, most bookstores have reduced their stock of audiobooks to a handful at most. But publishers are reluctant to pass up the opportunity to reach an audience of a size only possible on Amazon. Audible offers a membership model, which can amount to substantial savings over a la carte pricing.Īudible uses the clout it has amassed from this success to negotiate deals with publishers, who doubtless resent the low advances on offer - $1,000 is typical - for all but guaranteed bestsellers. ![]() Amazon acquired Audible in 2008 for about $300 million, and now features well over 100,000 titles. Last week, on the day when Apple lost its antitrust case in federal court, Amazon's share price closed at $292.33, its highest ever.Īudiobooks are a particularly good example of how Amazon is recruiting its huge customer base. While Amazon's strategies on discount pricing and investment in infrastructure have kept its profits relatively low, shareholders are showing confidence in its prospects. ![]() With each passing year, the industry confronts an enterprise that can afford to be more aggressive both in its product promotion and in its negotiations. The power of Amazon's position as a bookseller in every respect is growing at a pace that makes publishers uneasy. Whether the issue is the popularity of the Kindle in its various reading and tablet forms or the discounted pricing of most of its millions of books, consumers seem to be increasingly conditioned (or habituated) to the convenience of Amazon's one-click technology, its efficiency in service, and the vast scale of what it has on offer. Amazon has no such problems, and has actually been the beneficiary of the troubles facing these other companies. And Apple has suffered a resounding defeat in the Department of Justice's antitrust case alleging its conspiracy with major publishers to set e-book prices. Barnes and Noble's losses in Nook sales have become so large that the company is the subject of gloomy projections about its future. Audiobooks are now well over a billion-dollar business, and the available figures suggest that Amazon retains a far larger piece of that revenue than any other retailer.Īmazon is having an especially good run lately compared to major competitors in the book trade. Amazon also owns Brilliance audio, the biggest producer of CD-based audiobooks. ![]() Of all the ways Amazon has come to dominate the book market, especially in the digital arena, its share of audiobook sales probably represents its most formidable pre-eminence.Īt the last tally (now more than a year old), more than 60 percent of audiobooks were downloaded to digital devices, and nearly all of those came from Audible (an Amazon company) or through its long-standing license to supply audiobooks to Apple's iTunes. If you are a fan of audiobooks - and the numbers of people who say they are has grown impressively in recent years - the odds are that Amazon is your preferred place to shop.
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