The iPad and the expected entry of others such as Google into the e-book space will cut Amazon’s share of e-book sales from 90% to 35% over the next five years, Credit Suisse analyst Spencer Wang told clients in a note on Wednesday.
“Near term, we suspect that the iPad and the new eBook agency pricing model, which requires that Amazon increase retail prices to be more consistent with Apple’s pricing, will provide Kindle with the most market share headwind,” he writes. “Going forward, we can envision a scenario where Apple, Amazon, and Google eventually split the market. Therefore, we expect Amazon’s share of eBooks business to fall from 90% currently to about 35% over the next five years.”
The “Wall Street Journal” (http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2010/02/16/analyst-amazon-e-book-share-to-fall-from-90-to-35/) notes that that “Apple’s entry into the eBooks market stoked fears about the growth outlook for Amazon’s core book franchise, the balance of power between Amazon and book publishers, and the future of Amazon’s promising Kindle device,” according to Wang.