TNW has put out an interesting article today on Kindle e-book sales compared to iBook sales, going as far as to say that the Kindle still outsells Apple’s equivalent by 60-to-1.
In June, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said iBooks had already captured 22 percent of the e-book market, a gigantic number given that the store had just launched. Many were skeptical of Job’s number, however.
TNW spoke with J.A. Konrath, a popular author who is a huge fan of the future of e-books, about how well sales are going for him, on both platforms.
Konrath publishes his books on Kindle himself, cutting out publishers that used to take most of his profits. By doing so, and selling his e-books at a very reasonable $3 a piece, Konrath is making over $2 per book sold. When his books were in paperback, he was lucky to make $0.80 for every $10 book sold.
The author compared sales from iBooks, the Kindle, and from paperback: “Publishers might be looking at enriched or enhanced ebooks as their new big-ticket items to replace hardcovers. But the major ebook retailer, Amazon, isn’t set up for video. Kindle isn’t even able to do color yet. That leaves Apple, and according to my numbers Apple is a very small part of the ebook market. I sell 200 ebooks a day on Kindle. On iPad, I sell 100 a month.”
Given an average 30-day month, that is 6000 books sold on the Kindle and just 100 through iBooks, a 60-to-1 ratio.
While this is just one author’s figures, Job’s 22 percent number seems to be misleading, at best.
Result for: ting
Just like its predecessors Halo 2 and Halo 3, Halo: Reach has been leaked this weekend, with modders at Game-Tut finding a way to download the game from Microsoft’s own servers.
Microsoft has been hosting the full game online.
Only a few people were allowed to download the game, and each needed a special code.
Game-Tut cracked the security, and has made the files available via P2P, torrents and warez for the public as [JTAG] Halo Reach RF ISORip XBOX360-XB3.
Gamers have already uploaded videos showing off battles in the game’s Firefight mode.
Microsoft’s response (via Joystiq): “We are aware of claims being made regarding a security exploit related to Halo: Reach and are aggressively investigating the matter. We have no further details to share at this time.”
Result for: ting
Last week, former Apple employee Paul Devine was arrested and charged with selling secrets to Asian suppliers in exchange for over $2 million in kickbacks.
Devine, one of Apple’s global supply managers, was charged “with offenses that include wire fraud, money laundering and unlawful monetary transactions,” which began in 2006.
This week, Devine has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Prosecutors say Devine’s email accounts clearly show him “orchestrating” deposits from the Asian suppliers.
Furthermore, Apple has filed a civil racketeering lawsuit against Devine.
Devine worked for Apple from 2005 until this year. Apple, in their suit, allege that Devine “colllected commissions” for years from at least six Asian supplier in exchange for confidential information that helped them to secure deals.
