The Global eBook Report: Current Conditions & Future Projections. Update October 2013

.
    DC Books , the popular Malayalam publishing house, was one of the first among Indian languages’ publishers to launch ebooks. Most of their titles are available as ebooks, which are selling just under 10% of their sales, according to its CEO, Ravi Deecee .
    The Wink Store , which was launched in late 2010, was unique because it was able to sign up several trade publishers producing Indian-language books, giving the language segment its first entry-point into ebook publishing. While many of the publishers who signed up, started with PDFs, it was their first effort at testing the waters. The Store, which is an associate of DC Books, offers ebooks and emagazines. In 2010, it had launched and marketed the Wink eReader, an e-ink device, which has now been discontinued. But the ebooks and the apps are available for readers to read on other devices.
    Another initiative, Bookganga , based in the US, with its technology centre in Pune, retails more than 75,000 ebooks in Marathi , Gujarati , Hindi and Sanskrit languages, which can be read through their own app.
    For many reasons, including difficulties of font support on e-reading devices, and also the investments that they need to make, to adopt a digital workflow, the publishers in Indian languages are held back from launching their electronic publishing programmes.
    The many digital service providers that have been servicing foreign publishers so far, are now aggressively seeking domestic business from Indian publishers. The boom in tablet market is also helping the start-up software ventures in India to court publishers for potential content partnerships. But the collaborations have been few.
    Delivery platforms: Amazon, Flipkart, Kobo
    There are interesting developments taking place in retail of trade ebooks. Ebook retail is taking off from the online retail of physical books, which is continuing to grow too, with almost 25–35% of printed books sales coming from online retail for many publishers.
    Amazon’s homegrown competition in India, Flipkart , which started as an online retailer of books, and later introduced other categories of products, had forayed into retailing ebooks in September 2012 through its Flyte digital store (which started with selling music). Flyte was shut down in May 2013. By August 2013, Flipkart launched the Flipkart ebook app for Android, iOS and Windows platforms, as well as a web reader. The company has tied up with several Indian publishers, including publishers of Indian languages, beginning with Hindi, to sell their ebooks.
    Flipkart has said that according to Nielsen BookScan Retail Panel data, Flipkart holds 80% market share for online book sales in India, and holds 40–45% market share for all trade book sales across brick and mortar and online. In August 2013, Flipkart inked a deal with self-publishing platform Smashwords , to distribute its titles in India.
    Amazon’s Kindle, which has brand recognition in India, made it easier for Indian customers to buy books, with the launch of the Kindle India Store in August 2012, which enabled transactions in Indian Rupees (INR). Amazon had tied-up with Croma retail chain to sell its basic e-reader, the Kindle Wi-fi 6” E Ink Display device.
    When Amazon launched Amazon.in , its marketplace platform in India, in August 2013, it integrated the Kindle India store under that domain. The Kindle range of e-reader devices was also made available through Amazon.in shortly afterwards.
    The ebook space in India is about to get more exciting, with the coming of Kobo , which will soon launch here. In an interview to the author of this report, Malcolm Neill , Kobo’s Director Content Acquisition and Publisher Relations APAC, said that Kobo’s entry will drive competition. It has also identified a retail partner, and has been building relationships with publishers for over a year now.
    Before Flipkart and Kindle India Store set up, ebooks were available from locally established online retailers, like Ahmedabad-based Infibeam and The Wink Store, which is based in Kottayam , Kerala. Infibeam’s ebook store with over 900,000 ebooks, complements the Pi e-ink reader. When it first launched, most ebooks available through Infibeam were those published by global STM publishers.
    Google extended its ebook section on Google Play marketplace in India, in February 2013. With Android devices having greater penetration, Google Play is an important platform for content, where ebooks are priced in Indian