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The problem for Amazon is that they don't have much unique value to provide besides their brand and scale. The good experience, the Kindle etc., can all be repl
by ssp 17y ago
The problem for Amazon is that they don't have much unique value to provide besides their brand and scale. The good experience, the Kindle etc., can all be replicated.
If Amazon starts squeezing the publishers, some of them might leave and open the door for niche competitors selling things at high prices that you can't get elsewhere. Once that happens, Amazon loses something important: That you don't ever have to go elsewhere.
So the fact that Amazon is so dominant and needs to stay dominant can be used against them. This gives publishers somewhat more leverage than you'd think.
- ebrenes 17y agoAmazon also has the Amazon Marketplace, which allows third-parties to sell goods through the Amazon website. A third-party could just sell those Macmillan books. And there would be nothing Macmillan can do about it since certain jurisdictions protect the rights of third-parties to resell items, like books. So a savvy Marketplace user would realize the potential of stocking Macmillan books and selling them through Amazon to cater exactly to those users who want them but can't get them through Amazon. Amazon would be more limited on the digital front, since that's a much trickier area, legally.