E-readers yet to rouse Indian interest
By siliconindia   |   Friday, 04 December 2009, 21:18 IST   |    3 Comments
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E-readers yet to rouse Indian interest
Bangalore: With the entry of new players, such as Barnes and Noble, into the e-reader market and an increase in models from Amazon and Sony, consumers began to have choices in single-purpose e-reading devices in 2009. However despite its popularity the world over, the e-reader has failed to kindle the Indian reader's interest. As one of the top salespersons for his pharmaceutical company, and an avid book reader, Pranjal Sharma makes an ideal candidate for Amazon's popular electronic book reader device, Kindle, which launched two months ago in India, reports Economic Times. However despite the obvious benefits of an e-reader, "At $350, Kindle makes me instead feel more comfortable with the traditional way of carrying the latest John Grisham thriller and reading it - its too pricey for us," says Sharma who recently got to review Kindle when one of his colleagues from the U.S. carried the e-reader to India. "It does make book reading for frequent travelers like us very easy, but not that at that price." Kindle can be purchased by Indian consumers online through Amazon. After shipping charges of $20 and 24 percent customs duty, the $259 Kindle will cost around $350 in India. "In India, we don not expect e-readers and e-books to affect printed book sales in the near future. For the e-books to affect the paperback book sales cost of e-readers will need to come down substantially," said Macmillan Publishers India, Managing Director Rajiv Beri. In a recent survey among 4,706 U.S. consumers about the value of e-reader devices, research firm Forrester found that consumers find $50-$99 as fair price for e-readers. "Additionally easy availability of low cost e-books will be required. This does not seem to be happening anytime soon in India," he added. Rival publishing firm Oxford University Press India also agrees that Indian book readers may find it hard to change their reading habits overnight. Amazon, on its part is already negotiating with several Indian book publishers to see if relevant content can be made available in electronic format for Kindle users. Meanwhile, publishing firms such as Kolkata-based Academic Publishing feel that ebook readers including Kindle do have an opportunity to disrupt the market. "In the long run it may completely take over paper books - at least in the academics segment," said Dipankar Dhar, Owner of Academic Publisher. For starters, it will affect top-level academic books like those required for management studies, BSc, MSc, and corporate courses - the costly ones which are required for a short period," said Dipankar Dhar, Owner of Academic Publisher. With features to magnify images, words and ability to search required information, products such as Kindle are indeed set to challenge the traditional book publishing market in the country. "It's all about habit. We are used to reading the paper book and value its feel. But the Gen-next may have no problem carrying an ereader," said Dhar.

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