Can Borders Unseat Amazon in the E-Book Market?
Borders today launched both an electronic book store and two handset clients — for BlackBerry and Android 2.0 devices — as it tries to compete against offerings from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple. According to Reuters, the new Borders eBook store boasts 1.5 million titles (both free and paid) and lags only behind Amazon in terms of volume. And similar to Amazon, Borders is embracing e-books as a platform across multiple devices, rather than taking Apple’s approach, which currently limits its e-books to iOS4 devices only. Will following in Amazon’s footsteps guarantee the same level of success for Borders, currently the number two brick-and-mortar bookseller in terms of overall sales? Om believes that it’s Amazon’s game to lose, mainly because the retailer understands online sales world like few others — customers trust Amazon and its one-click purchase method. Still, the company may not be the guaranteed winner in this market: Barnes & Noble has already proven that a traditional boo
