Debuting on Kalahari.net, e-books have made their entrance in the South African market.
Kalahari was the first to publish mainstream non-public domain titles electronically, according to CEO Gary Hadfield.
The company currently offers over 60 000 titles. There are no South African titles on that list, but Hadfield says it's “definitely on the road”.
“E-books on Kalahari.net are available in either PDF or ePUB format and can be downloaded using Adobe Digital Editions. E-books may be transferred to another computer, provided that customers authorise each one with Adobe Digital Editions prior to transferring e-books between them,” says the company. Hadfield explains that e-books are protected from unauthorised copying by digital rights management.
Sales and promotion agent Marius Greef says Exclusive Books' e-book sales will go live from this Monday.
The store also plans to widen its title range, according to Greef. He says Exclusive Books launched its new site yesterday and already has some e-book titles listed on it.
“E-books are a really big focus point for us right now,” says Greef.
Penetration worries
Low Internet access rates and the high cost of broadband pose potential problems for e-book sales in SA, according to BMI-TechKnowledge MD Denis Smit.
He says e-book sales will initially battle because of broadband capacity. “But, as we speak, costs are going down and so e-books will be a part of our future.”
“There's going to be a smaller penetration initially than First World countries had, but with the Seacom cable and greater connection the penetration will increase,” agrees Greef.
Hadfield says the popularity of e-books will also grow as content becomes more available and e-book readers are becoming more affordable, which will also contribute to their success.
“We need to have more terminal devices and, with the iPad coming in, uptake is likely to increase,” says Smit.
Hadfield adds that, with the large role of the mobile market in SA, mobile phones are likely to play a bigger role in consumption.
“Let's be honest, 10 years from now we'll all be using e-books,” says Smit.
Pricing issues
Broadband may get cheaper, but consumers are also concerned with the prices of e-books themselves.
ITWeb's brief look at Kalahari's site showed some e-books are cheaper than the physical copies of the same title, some are priced similarly and some are, in fact, more expensive than their physical counterparts.
“E-book pricing is governed by publishers, just as physical books are and depending on how royalties are structured with authors, it will make a difference,” says Greef.
Kalahari declined to comment on the matter.
Share