On the corner of my desk sits an Amazon Kindle that is gathering dust. It has not been touched for a month.

I found it convenient but not compelling. It was great to download a book fast, but its cheap plastic feel, a clunky user interface and black and white screen made it rather unattractive. Using the Kindle was a bit like going back to watch black and white TV in a world of sexy, sixty inch, 3D color televisions.

The Kindle is a dedicated e-reader that was never meant to be a multi-function tablet. Its success along with the success of the Apple iPad has made Amazon realize that a tablet in its product range may be a vital and necessary addition.

The Apple has dominated the tablet market selling over 25 million iPads since the launch last year, which I am sure Amazon watched with extreme interest.

The iPad has also defined the new social mobile web where media, apps and browsing are mobile, enticing and even obsessive with the ability to login to Facebook and Twitter while out and about.

Amazon has just made an announcement of a new seven inch color tablet  that could be the first serious indicator of a competitor that may potentially reduce Apple’s iPad table market dominance.

Amazon’s Tablet “Kindle Fire”

The $199 tablet has the following features.

• Seven inch multi-color, multi-touch display
• Wi-Fi connectivity
• Weighs 14.6 ounces
• Dual  core processor
• Web browser called Amazon Silk

What it doesn’t have is a 3G capability, a camera or a microphone. (See Video Demo of the “Kindle Fire”)

Amazon’s YouTube Video of the Kindle Fire

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Two Key Advantages of the Kindle Fire

The Amazon “Kindle Fire” tablet’s edge is two fold:

1. Its price, Jeff Bezos the CEO of Amazon says “we are building premium products at non-premium prices”
2. Its access to a store over 18 million digital books, movies, songs, magazines, apps and games.

Just like Apple, Amazon has a superior solution to hardware only brands such as HTC and Samsung, in that it has a total ecosystem that includes hardware, software and a Web-based store.

This announcement  has just changed the tablet game and has just made every other Android tablet manufacturer’s tablet seem extremely expensive (for example HTC’s Flyer is priced at $499).

Implications for Google

What is also interesting  is that Amazon even though it is using the Google Android operating system, has included its own browser called “Amazon Silk” that optimizes browsing for fast viewing of videos and games.

If the Amazon Fire becomes the dominant Android tablet, and the pieces of the puzzle and pricing seem to strongly indicate that, then Google will have to respond.

So what are the implications for Google?

• Google will not control the Amazon Fire’s Browser
• Apps will be sold through Amazon’s App Store not Googles Android market and that will dilute its revenue potential
• Google may need to build its own tablet to compete with Amazon’s Fire, so as to grow its Android app store

Possible Impact on Apple

There are even rumours that Amazon will be also building a 10 inch tablet that will compete head to head with Apple’s iPad and if that is the case Apple will have to respond with lower prices which will benefit consumers.

The other implication for Apple could be the comission of 30% that it currently takes for its apps from developers could be cut if Amazon takes serious market share from the Apple iPad.

There is nothing like a bit of competition to reduce prices and improve a product!

So would you buy an Amazon Kindle Fire tablet?

More Reading:

• 20 Creative Ways to Use an Apple iPad
• 10 New Apple iPad Facts and Figures
• How 3 Mobile Gadgets are Transforming our Lives: New Research
• Is This the Future of Books?
• Are Book Publishers Dying? E-Book Sales Increase by 300%

Image by Dekuwa

We all know the dangers of impulse buying. You are standing at the checkout and the candy bar is in your line of vision and at $1.99 it is almost screaming at you.

You stumble upon a great book title and your Amazon Kindle is in your hand and with a couple of clicks you have just spent $7.99.

That app that a friend has mentioned to you is found in the Apple app store in seconds and without even pulling out your credit card the 99 cent purchase is facilitated in moments.

Welcome to the world of web impulse buying that is painless and convenient.. well, until you get your next credit card statement.

Apple’s business model is more about annuity income driven by impulse buying than the hardware sales. The real gold for Apple is in the sale of  $1.99 apps for iPhones and iPads that are created by someone else (no R&D costs for Apple), with Apple receiving  a 30% commission  and distributed at almost no cost to Apple’s database of over 200 million credit card customers. (It is rumored that Apple now has the largest credit card database in the world and even surpasses Amazon’s).

So after launching just over a year ago in April 2010 where are we now with the Apple iPad.

10 iPad Facts and Figures

1. Over 25 million iPads have been sold in 14 months
2. More than 15 million iPad 2′s have been sold since March 2011.
3. Apple’s iPad is expected to take 83% of the Tablet market in the USA in 2011
4. Over 14 Billion apps have been downloaded since the App store opened on July 10, 2008 (less than 3 years ago) with the iPad app downloads estimated at 10% of daily downloads.
5. There are over 65,000 apps for the iPad out of a total app database of over 500,000 apps in the Apple store
6. The top 3 Free iPad apps are Soundhound, Stick Wars and Flightrack
7. The top 3 paid iPad apps are Pandora, Google mobile app and Movies by Flixster
8. The average iPad and iPhone user has downloaded more than 60 apps
9. The median revenue for the  iPad and iPhone app developer per application is estimated at $8,700
10. 37 percent of all apps are free with the average price $3.64

Have you succumbed to an impulse buy on your Apple iPad and iPhone?

More Reading

• 20 Creative Ways to Use an Apple iPad
• 29 Statistics Reveal How The Apple’s iPad Is Changing Our Lives
• 11 iPad Facts and Figures to Make the Amazon Kindle Cringe

Sources

Wikipedia – App store
Techcrunch
Wikpedia – iPad

Image by t.miyakawa2449

Media consumption whether that be books, magazines and video are all in a state of  rapid change as mobile devices such as the iPad push industries to the edge that have been in existence for over a hundred years (like the publishing industry).

The volume of the mantra “change or die” has never been so loud.

The “now” generation wants their news, entertainment, information and access to online stores instantly whether that is on the bus, bedroom or even on the beach.

I just bought a Kindle and one of the reasons is that when I hear about a book .. I want it now!

Global warming is threatening the long term existence of polluting courier planes, trains and automobiles, so a book delivered in seconds from the other side of the world to feed my educational and reading passion is rather an attractive ecological proposition.. now the challenge will be to find the time to read it!!

A recent survey by seven.co.uk announces some rather rather revealing stats on how the iPad.. which is the fastest selling technology hardware device in history with 15 million sold in 11 months, is impacting our  media consumption habits both online and offline. The iPad buyers are not exclusively early adopters as is often assumed, as 63% describe themselves as people who normally wait for a gadget to become established before they buy it.

So what are the iPad statistics that you should take notice of ?

iPad’s Time Usage

This has implications on how publishers should be developing content so it is optimized for the appropriate device

• Use of  desktop computers is down for 35% iPad owners since they bought the device
• Use of laptops is also down since they bought an iPad at 39%
• 87% of owners are using it every day of the week
• 26% for half an hour to an hour per day
• 32% for 1-2 hours per day
• 24% for more than 2 hours a day.

Where do they use it?

Its versatility makes it a flexible and ubiquitous device with

• 69% of respondents using it in the bedroom
• 42% in the kitchen
• 20% of men can’t be parted from it in the bathroom

The last statistic certainly show that men’s habits for reading in the small room have not changed just the device!

What do they use the Apple iPad for?

• Accessing the web – 75%
• Emailing -63%
• 53% of iPad owners say they use their device mainly for entertainment
• Playing games – 48%
• Social networking – 41%
• Researching products and services – 29%
• Reading books – 25%
• Listening to music – 21%
• Shopping – 19%
• Reading magazines – 13%
• For work – 13%
• Watching TV – 11%

What is interesting to note is that 51% who have read magazines in print and in interactive format on the iPad say they prefer it on the iPad, vs 23% who prefer a magazine in print.

The Stats on Apps on the iPad

The apps market that started with the Apple iphone has not diminished but has continued to grow into the iPad market place. Content is the key driver in app purchases. The survey shows that this is more important to consumers than the price of the app when making a purchase decision.

• 16% have bought a branded app from a company
• 84% of respondents would be very interested in an app from one of their favourite brands, if it was free and non-subscription.
• Free apps are almost twice as popular among iPad consumers as paid-for (the average iPad has 18 free apps on it and 10 paid-for)
• Buying an app is most strongly influenced by the app’s perceived usefulness at 64% of owners
• Content is very important when buying the app at 47%
• Price comes third at 44% when considering buying
• Friend recommendations  is important at 27%
• 15% say that recommendations by industry experts are very important when making an app buying decision.

The tablet market is here to stay all that you need to decide is how you are going to take advantage of it. Do I hear the keys tapping as you start on that new ebook?

More reading:

• 20 Creative Ways To Use An Apple iPad
• 22 Reasons Why Your Business Needs An Apple iPhone App

Image by hawaii

Apple has sold over 3 million iPads in less than 3 months. It is already making an impact on people’s online habits. Online web based magazine viewing from desktops has gone from a few minutes a month with magazines like Vanityfair.com at  2.1 minutes per month and 3.8 minutes per month at GQ.com (according to comScore) to  over 60 minutes per month on a Apple iPad for the online magazine Wired. This is due to Wired Magazine developing a well thought out iPad app and according to John Gapper from the Financial Times Blog

“it is the way that it re-imagines the entire magazine format by integrating words, data, graphics, photos and video into a seamless blend. It is also – in contrast to others – intuitive to navigate. Even the advertisements, complete with videos, seem interesting“.

The Wired Magazine iPad app is an example of industry best practice and sets a high bar in terms of offering a great reader experience.

So what are some trends that have emerged over the last 3 months since the Apple iPad went on sale in March.

1. It is creating a drop in Netbook sales

Netbook sales growth is declining for the first time ever with April figures dropping  by 13%

2. iPad Internet Usage is closer to traditional PC’s

The viewing is not like smart phones such as the iPhone, Android and Blackberry where the top internet usage on an Apple iPhone at 18% compared to the iPad usage at 41%.

3. iPad is on schedule to be the the most popular mobile devices in history

The projected sales of 16 million units in the first 12 months (Morgan Stanley Research)

Source for the 3 charts businessinsider.com

4. iPad is becoming a ‘Gaming‘ platform

It is not only being used for productivity or media consumption with 4 of the top four paid apps being entertainment offerings including

• Scrabble for iPads
• Plants vs Zombies HD
• Flight Control HD
• Sketchbook Pro

5. People are willing to pay more for an iPad app than an iPhone app

This is due to the optimized user experience and convenience on the move, with iPad gaming apps averaging $3.52. Also 1% of iPad apps are charging a monthly subscription rather than a one off fee. If these trends continue you could see increased monetization of the web with people willing to pay for a better user experience on a portable platform due to its convenience.

What are your primary uses for your Apple iPad?

The iPad has just been released for sale on Friday and current estimates put the first days sales at 120,000 according to a report by Techcrunch.

So what industries will be impacted and possibly changed forever by this new apple hardware platform? 

The three most at risk with tens of billions of dollars at stake are

• Computer Gaming both Online and Offline
• Online and Offline Publishing
• Online and Offline Video

The current global sales volumes for these industries are

• Computer Gaming:  $20.2 Billion in the USA alone in 2009 according to CDRInfo with estimated Global sales of $57 Billion
• Publishing:  Worldwide revenue in 2009 was estimated at $130 – $150 Billion with eBook sales estimated at $9 Billion by 2013
• Video: By 2013 home video sales are projected to be $59 Billion

So let’s have a closer look at the publishing industry and the likely projected impact to this industry that is worth in excess of $100 Billion globally.

Scott Steinberg, publisher and lead technology analyst at Digital Trends, who is also an author of three books and his site receives over 40 million unique visitors every month says.

“But while it may not completely reinvent the rules of digital publishing in 2010, I have no doubt that within 18-24 months, you’ll begin to see the iPad have a major impact on the way both publishing houses and casual readers look at the digital publishing space, which the gadget should provide a major boon in coming years.”

The reality is that it is not only the online sector that will be transformed but also the offline games, video and publishing industries, as anything that can be published offline is going online as  the ability to upload easily onto the big copying machine called the internet  at faster and faster speeds with decreasing friction through higher speed broadband both fixed and wireless will continue unabated.  The other part of the puzzle regarding the threat to these industries is not just the usability, design and attraction of the hardware device but Apple’s iTunes and Apps store for its Internet and and iPhone users. So the ease of these cloud sites and the new iBooks site will transform the publishing industry. Scott goes on to say.

“Just as importantly, iBooks looks to provide a simple, elegant and intuitive means of browsing, purchasing and enjoying digital content, making the experience of flipping through favorite novels or publications in virtual format much more of an engaging and organic experience than you’d find on current eReaders”

The Retail Muse says.

“Publishers are on the bandwagon, and ready to embrace Job’s new product. The five largest publishers, including McGraw Hill and Simon and Schuster, are ready to provide content to the new device”.

So to get some perspective on what the impact will be on the publishing industry we need to have a look at what has happened in the music industry since the introduction of Apple’s iTunes.

iTunes was introduced in 2003, since that time these are some of the milestones.

• iTunes sold 25 million digital tracks its first year in 2003
• By 2006, sales had reached 1 billion
• Apple’s iPod, the leading MP3 device reached 220 million in sales by November, 2009 – or 73 percent of the total digital music-player market
• Apple sold its 10 billionth song on February 24 , 2010 via iTunes

So what has been the impact to the offline industry in that physical sales represented 80 percent of all music sales in 2007

• In 2010 they represent 64 percent ( a drop of 20% in just 3 years)
• Digital sales increased 80 percent in the same time period
• Bricks and mortar record stores are closing in record numbers

If you take the impact of the offline music industry as an indicator of what will happen to the publishing industry over the next couple of years we could see more than $20 Billion dollars wiped off the book publishing industry’s annual sales figures. Will that happen? The game is on and the industry’s business model is under threat.

The upside is that the unforseen benefits to the planet is that the ability to distribute books electronically will  minimize the environmental impact due to reduced emissions in transporting goods and less trees having to be cut down to produce the paper.

So how long will the offline book industry last?… 20 years..30 years?  Will the printed book become a souvenir or a special limited edition?

What do you think?

Note: In future posts we will take a closer look at how the iPad could challenge the computing gaming industry and Video industry.