Financial Times (subscription required) is reporting that Random House, the world’s largest book publisher, hasn’t signed up to offer their content on the iBookstore and likely wont’ before the iPad’s April 3rd launch. The reason for holding out are fears that the agency model Apple has adopted for eBook pricing will eat away at publisher […]
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Random House Waiting For Things to Settle Before Joining iBookstore

Mar 25th 2010 by

Financial Times (subscription required) is reporting that Random House, the world’s largest book publisher, hasn’t signed up to offer their content on the iBookstore and likely wont’ before the iPad’s April 3rd launch. The reason for holding out are fears that the agency model Apple has adopted for eBook pricing will eat away at publisher profits.

Markus Dohle, Random House chief executive, did not exclude the possibility of reaching a deal before the iPad goes on sale on April 3, but said he was treading carefully, as Apple’s pricing regime could erode established publishing practices.

This “agency model” is where publishers are allowed to set the price of the content, and Apple takes a 30% cut of the revenue for supplying the store. Apple argues that this model will create a more stable eBook business into the future.

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