Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Management - Essay Example Gadgets such as Amazon's Kindle and Apple's iPad which also doubles as an eReader are garnering huge popularity among the readers and book lovers alike. Furthermore with the increasing penetration of internet in almost all walks of life, a significant change in the patterns of reading and behavior of book readers is being observed worldwide. The consumers have shown a greater acceptability of such new gadgets and the publishers are cashing in on the popularity to drive their sales and increase their profits. The popularity of e-book readers can be estimated from the rising sales. According to statistics (see figure 1), the sales of eReaders in the first quarter of 2011 rose to 236 per cent, totaling 4.8 million units. It is expected to further rise to 27 million by the year end (Digitimes Research, 2011). Figure 1: According to research, Amazon is expected to be the frontrunner and retain its industry dominance by capturing approximately 60 per cent of the market share, followed clos ely by Barnes & Noble which is likely to settle on the second spot, followed by Sony. Challenges for the industry players The major industry players in the e-book reader market include Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony and Apple. Amazon has emerged as a strong player in the market, although Sony was the first company to initiate the product in the U.S. markets with its state of the art technology. The launch of Kindle has since far surpassed the sales of all other electronic book readers available in the market. However, on account of new entrants such as Google for instance, which is taking giant strides in digitizing books from all major libraries the current industry leaders are likely to face serious competition in the near future (DailyMarkets, 2011). With record number of sales observed in the first quarter of 2011 and strong predictions for the rest of the year, it is highly likely that the market for eBooks and eBook readers is going strong and growing steadily. More and more pri nt editions such as newspapers and magazines have also joined in the eReader bandwagon owing to its incredible success. However, one of the greatest challenges faced by this industry is that of rising concerns over piracy. The publishers are wary of the proliferation of pirated copies floating freely on the internet, supported by the ease of pirating such copies and converting them in digital formats. There is a high and urgent need for product differentiation in the industry. Publishers are yet largely unaware of the choices of formats preferred by the readers of online books and the popular sections such as Science, fiction, non-fiction or academic books and target their customers accordingly (Dillehay, 2001). With regard to markets geographically, North America is likely to continue as the biggest market for e-book readers accounting for approximately 72 per cent of the global market share. However, at the same time newer markets are constantly opening up such as Europe, Japan an d China. The global market for eBook readers is likely to reach 63 million units as shipments, by the year 2014 (Digitimes Research, 2011). 2. Comparison between Border Books and Barnes & Noble on the following grounds: a. Approaches taken by Barnes & Noble and Border Books to respond to the changes in the e-book market With the advent of new technologically enabled gadgets and