'Kindle' all the way

Johnny came lately, in the Indian gadget market, Amazon Kindle - a software and hardware platform for rendering and displaying e-books and other digital media. With the entry in Indian market, the gadget has attracted many Indian publications that have joined hands with Kindle and are ready to provide their content on a subscription basis.

Not getting into technical part of the gadget, which has its own merits and demerits, Adgully tries to know the Indian publishers' take on the gadget and what good can it do to the publication industry.

Are you there?

Presently amongst the Indian publishers' list - Hindustan Times, Indian Express and Financial Express are the dailies which are launched on Kindle. If we see the magazine space for the time being there is only one player, India Today that is providing its content on the platform.

Pavita Puri, Group Brand Head, Indian Express Group, who are amongst the publication which provides its content on the new platform says, "We tied up with Kindle for both - Indian Express and Financial Express (FE), and FE is first financial daily to get on to Kindle, in Indian market. Specifically for Indian Express we are aware that we have a very large readership base outside India. When we tracked our online usage for all our websites we realized that lots of people probably based abroad are tuned in to the Express sites, and we are hoping that Kindle will help easier access to them. As far as readers in India are concerned they are technologically inclined and are more than welcome."

On asking the biggest player in the English space, The Times of India group, Rahul Kansal, Brand Director, TOI says, "I cannot say right now, obviously these are new technologies and we have to keep our eyes open to the subject, but I cannot announce or say anything right away on this subject."

Regional players have a very limited target audience, still is there any chance where Kindle can help regional player? Jwalant Swaroop, Director Advertising and Business Development, Lokmat Newspapers Pvt Ltd. say, "If we are talking about newspapers yes of course Kindle can help regional players. But I am afraid if it will be user friendly in context with the Indian regional markets. It may not replace the feel of a newspaper in any which way, but going forward to draw parallel with the mobile services penetration in the rural markets, I feel it will become an accessible mode provided it is pocket friendly as well."

Mariam M. Mathew, Chief Operating Officer, Manorama Online (Malayala Manorama group) put a very important point and says, "Presently regional content is not seen in Kindle. This could be largely because of the lack of full Unicode support. We are yet to see any of the Indian languages on Kindle store. Future depends on enhanced support for Unicode and non-Latin character sets."

It's all about revenue

Kansal explains, "These are all interesting developments and advancement in technology is very welcome thing, at the same time you have to ensure that content owners get their rightful share of the revenues." Citing example of internet he further says, "Internet is a wonderful thing it takes the content to larger number of people but the problem with publishers as far as this medium is concerned is, it is still suffering and that is because there is no proper way to monetize the huge reach on internet. So when brand new technology like Kindle comes along one has to ensure that when you participate your future revenues are secured."

Even the regional players have the same view. Swaroop says, "We already have our e papers available on web and have large people reading them as well. We have plans to provide the content on all the possible devices which can enable seamless distribution with sensible revenue share. Since Kindle's penetration in our domestic markets if I am correct is near to non-existence, it never came closer for evaluation as a distribution device. However, most publishers will be happy to be on it. Most of our overseas visitors are comfortable accessing our e papers on broadband connections and have not made so much demand for being available on Kindle."

Mathew explains, "We are still evaluating plans to publish our content on Kindle store, it depends on many factors like regional language compatibility, revenue model, advertisement support etc. Another concern is that the e-readers do not allow publishers to present their content in creative ways, like it is done in a browser."

Future

Having discussed the revenue aspect can we see Kindle being a common gadget in most of the hands like iPod? On this, Puri elaborates, "I think Kindle's impact eventually is going to be determined purely by technology. My perspective is that as long as there is conversion in technology and they can manage to get Kindle going, there isn't any reason why it should not take off. There is enough research which tells that young people are far more prolific reader than they ever were and given the fact that they are also technologically savvy I don't think there should be any problem in Kindle doing well. When the iPhone came in India it was said that it's an expensive product but it did well and holds a good market despite of the heavy price barrier. I don't think there is dearth of market and as far as there is an interest in the product it will work well.

Mathew thinks, "With more network coverage and possible drop in price, Kindle could accelerate the shift from print towards digital content. Since Kindle is targeting itself as a dedicated e-reader, it will probably remain popular for the books and magazine publishers. There is future in this product but with more enhancements. 2010 -2011 is supposed to be year when lots of new versions of e-readers like the newly launched iPad will be released ' we are looking forward to that. With the international launch of Kindle and AT&T global wireless access, Kindle is definitely going to add a new audience group for publishers around the world.

Swaroop believes, "Kindle or Kindle like other devices are more for people who are on the constant move and are part of frequent flyer clubs. Moreover, they are also hard pressed with time and want more customised content or information for themselves. I think India will take some more time to accept a product in large numbers such as Kindle. I hope with 3G services many mobile handsets may offer features similar to Kindle, hence whether India will embrace Kindle or something similar is yet to be seen." On a positive note he says, "I hope the newspaper industry in India should view this as an opportunity in improving the distribution of newspapers and magazines. It will be a more transparent mode of distribution and the user profile can easily be tracked. I think issues related to revenue share etc need more clarity."