According to an article published in Forbes, the Apple iPhone is now more popular for reading books than Amazon’s Kindle. Apple may have even unintentionally taken the lead in the digital book market due to Stanza, the favorable book reading application offered for free along with its titles via Apple’s iPhone store. Not bad, considering that earlier this year, Steve Job’s declared,
“It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,”
Although as Chief Executive Hadrien Gardeur of Feedbooks, Stanza’s largest distributor of content, points out, the iPhone and Kindle may not be direct competitors,
“Kindle appeals to heavy readers who spend far more time reading than anyone who uses an iPhone. But I don’t think the mass market is ready to spend that kind of money. So they really don’t compete with one another at this point.”
Stanza is currently working on deals with several major publishers which may make the two direct competitors when it acquires the advantages of the Kindle including newer titles, and the ability to browse, purchase and download directly to the iPhone. Stanza will face new competition in the upcoming months if the E-Ink screen technology used by the Kindle progresses. However, it will be interesting to see if the heavy readers are willing to give up the screen technology in favor of an all in one device when Stanza announces their negotiated deals in the New Year.
