What will 2010 bring for publishing industry?

Overview

Changes in technology and consumer behavior have given rise to new opportunities and challenges for publishers the world over. The emerging popularity of the digital and online media has brought about a significant change in the core business model of the publishing industry. The rapid expansion of digital media has driven publishers to reduce costs and streamline their operations. Also, the pressure on publishers has increased as a growing number of consumers prefer access to online content. Consumers now seek content that can be accessed through a wide range of devices such as ebook readers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), mobile phones and PCs. Publishers are constantly challenging themselves to find innovative ways to deliver content to users. Besides the common trends such as electronic books (ebooks), podcasts, blogs, mobile publishing, and self-publishing, publishers have also started focusing on new opportunities such as user-generated content and online communities.

The Association of American Publishers estimates that hardcover sales have dipped 13 percent in 2008 and have dipped 15.3 percent since July 2009. Sales of ebooks, on the other hand, though still low, are increasing. They represent 1.6 percent of total book sales in the first quarter of 2009. (Source: The New York Times)

The overall trend towards mobility and consumption and creation of content across a wide range of mobile devices, makes 2010 a big year for all devices such as phones, e-readers /book devices etc. To add to that, large publishing houses are now hiring for positions in e-publishing further emphasizing the trend that’s to take center-stage in the coming year. Publishers and writers the world over are recognizing the need to keep with the times and are geared to set their ebook strategies in place, starting with writers like Stephen Covey moving ebook rights of his books to amazon.

World markets

Besides the more mature US, Canadian and European markets, Asia too is not far behind. China is never far behind and their digital publishing plans are no exception. It is predicted by DisplaySearch’s 'e-paper display' report that China will experience e-reader device growth over the next 5 years from 800,000 to 3 million, which would represent about 20% of the global e-reader sales market.

The Taiwan Govt. has already begun mapping out its ebook plans. According to officials in the Cabinet, the Govt. will help establish a comprehensive industry chain of digital publishing by 2013. The budget passed for developing the country’s electronic reader industry, shows investments of more than US$66.25 million in the following five years. Officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs pointed out that businesses from mainland China and Taiwan can leverage their respective advantages to establish a common set of standards for Chinese e-readers and e-content. These include content and format compatibility, testing of hardware and software support, as well as collaboration on developing software of digital rights management and online intellectual property protection.

2010 - A defining year

2010 will be a defining year for ebook formats. Industry leaders will have to come to terms with the fact that different formats won’t work in the long run. Either one format will have to emerge the winner or a single standard needs to be adopted to enable growth and resolve ambiguity. This resolution will also reduce costs of conversion to publishers in multiple formats.

The text book industry will see a huge shift from traditional publishing to digital publishing. Traditional learning will be complimented by interactive and media rich digitized content. This allows easier updates on books as well as usage of content in chunks. Most textbooks will adopt ePub format in 2010. DRM systems together with embedded media files will give students an interactive and multimedia rich content.

Harvard University’s head librarian says that as more and more books are published every year, the future for books and the publishing industry will be a digital one. The transition from print to computer will provide a test of how well we preserve our great works of literature.

E-readers will soon have apps of their own to enable readers to view reading content on non-reading-optimized devices and do things like share what they’re reading with social networks. These apps will open up new retail opportunities for device makers. For example, an app store, that has apps such as a social-reading app to an enterprise app. This again points out to the fact that multi-purpose devices like mobile phones, netbooks and tablets will eat into demand for dedicated e-readers. Devices like the Google phone and the Apple tablet that are set to hit the market, will change the way content is accessed and consumed.

Conclusion

To conclude, valuable and genuine interest in ‘content’ will never die, it’s the form in which it is delivered that will gauge its consumption. We live in an 'instant information era' where even daily newspaper delivery seems slow compared to instant access to anything you want to read or see. Starting in 2010, anybody who wants to read an ebook will have an array of ebook access choices, such as buying perpetual access to a book stored on the Internet, downloading a book to a personal device or perhaps some other models such as pay per use or book rentals.  New reader devices are due to hit the market and 2010 will see wider adoption of ebooks across different geographies. The market, although still in its nascent stage, promises an eventful and defining year ahead!