E-Reader to hard: Tolino vs. Kindle - messenger from Haßgau

books are among the most popular gifts at Christmas. Increasingly, the reading material is consumed digitally, however – on the smartphone, the tablet computer, or a reader. These so-called e-readers so far the U.S. company Amazon has the edge. But the German booksellers do not want to leave without a fight the Internet giant field. With our own equipment and a costly advertising campaign they engage in the Christmas shop at.

The starting position for the mission “us against Amazon” looks at first glance from cheap. In the spring of this year, had teamed up with the world, Thalia, and Hugendubel Club Bertelsmann, Germany’s largest bookseller, to bring their own reading device on the market that will compete with the popular Kindle from Amazon: the Tolino Shine. Official sales figures, there are none. But to the book trade by reader now about half a million units have gone over the counter, as the participating publishers hinted. Amazon gives its sales figures for Germany not known.

When market share for e-books, so digitized books, the situation is clearer. According to the GfK market research company, the Tolino-maker Amazon could push back the market share of the retail giant fell from 48 percent in the second quarter to 43 percent in the third quarter of this year. The Tolino partner come to 37 percent. Points is developed by Deutsche Telekom Tolino with its open distribution system. While the Kindle is tied to the title to purchase the online store Amazon, Tolino users can shop for all participating booksellers. It is planned that join more of the Alliance. So far, the discussions but shall not be moved forward.

A stumbling block are the necessary investments. Sumptuous is the digital battle against Amazon, in any case – and not only because of the good 1000 television commercials and the numerous billboards that are known to make the Tolino at Christmas time. The reader itself is still a subsidy business, such as the world leader Carel Halff was forced to admit in an interview. “But we have to simply stand up,” Halff had said in view of the high cost.

From digital competition much depends for the booksellers. Amazon has set the industry under significant pressure. More and more German order their books through the Internet. For steady-state dealer who invested late in setting up their own online stores, that was a problem. This setback do not want to relive the booksellers at the E-Books. The fact that the digital reading makes the breakthrough, of which the industry is convinced. 2012, about three percent of the turnover in the German book market in the amount of 9.5 billion euros were achieved with e-books, according to the Association of German Book Trade. But in the first half of 2013, the revenue share had increased to five percent.

The consulting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) estimates that the share of e-books in the overall market for fiction is rising to 2017 to 16 percent. For the e-book speaks drive down the price, which is currently about one-fifth lower than the printed book. “E-Books are in this country before the breakthrough,” says Werner Ballhaus, head of technology, media and telecommunications at PwC. Perhaps the yes comes for Christmas this year. According to a survey of high-tech association Bitkom the Germans are willing to spend a large chunk of their Christmas bonus for the electronic devices.