Collective price reduction of electronic paper books to the mass market

● In the past, e-books were aimed at the “gift market”. However, with the rise of the iPad, more companies or companies chose gifts for the iPad. This forced domestic e-paper book makers to cut prices to turn to the mass consumer electronics market. ● Future e-paper books Market competition will shift from making money from selling products to relying on platform operations and profiting from content resources. The electronic paper book will shift from the "gift market" to the "mass market." Yesterday, relevant person in charge of Hanwang told Huaxi Dushi Bao that on the previous period, the price reduction of electric paper books was to facilitate the popularization of electric paper books in the personal market. “Personal consumer users are the bigger market. Earlier, they profited from selling hardware. Rely on the online platform Hanwang Book City - Profit from platform operations and content resources."

Domestic electric paper books have fallen into a price-mad frenzy Since May, domestic electronic paper book market began to appear price cuts, Hanwang Technology's maximum reduction rate of 40%, the lowest price of 599 yuan. On June 28th, Shanda announced that the electronic paper book Bambook had dropped from 999 yuan to 499 yuan. The reporter saw on Jingdong Mall yesterday that Newman’s electronic paper book product has dropped to 299 yuan, and the lowest price of Patriot’s electronic paper book has reached 399 yuan.

“It is not which manufacturer drives other manufacturers to lower prices, just as it is going to rain. When the time comes, the prices will naturally drop.” Li Yi, executive vice chairman and secretary general of China Mobile Internet Industry Alliance, told Huaxi Dushi Bao, downgrading Is a major trend.

Li Yi believes that in the past, e-books were a niche “gift market,” but with the rise of Apple’s iPad, more companies or companies chose iPads for gifts, and their prices were not much higher than e-books, which forced domestic Electronic paper book makers cut prices to turn to the mass consumer electronics market.

“The average gross margin of Hanwang’s electronic paper books has remained at around 40%. Looking at China, there is no gross profit for any mass consumer electronics product that can exceed 10%. To become the latter, it is only possible to follow market rules and reduce market price to expand market size. It is an inevitable choice."

Hardware profitability turns to content profitability Hanwang said that the user base for the expansion of the price reduction is to support Hanwang’s strategic transformation. Previously relying on selling hardware for profit, it is necessary to rely on the online platform Hanwang Bookstore - relying on platform operations and content resources for profit.

This is a precedent in the United States. In late May, Amazon issued a statement on its website saying that sales of the Kindle electronic paper book exceeded the sales of paper books for the first time (including hardcover books and paperback books). The arrival of this day was the launch of the Kindle from Amazon. Electronic paper books have not yet been used for more than 4 years.

Bai Dawang CEO Cheng Sanguo told Huaxi Dushi Bao that the price of the Kindle paper book was about 50%-70% of the paper book. That is to say, generally in the United States 26-30 US bestseller, on the Kindle paid downloads for 12.99-15.99 US dollars, which makes publishers, readers and Amazon are happy. Although the price is low, there is no cost for paper, printing, logistics and inventory, and profits are even higher.