Kobo CEO Says Not Selling Washing Machines Key To Overtaking Amazon 207
DavidGilbert99 writes "Kobo, the Canadian-based ebook company is number two in the market, behind the behemoth that is Amazon. So what does the CEO Michael Serbinis think is the one thing which will allow them to overtake the e-commerce giant? 'We don't sell any washing machines, we don't sell radios. We are not focused on the next server farm to offer data services. It is a question of focus.' Serbinis goes on to tell IBTimes UK: 'From an organization standpoint at Kobo, this is all we do. Everyone at Kobo, all we focus on is creating a great experience for book-lovers.'"
DRM? (Score:3)
Come on, how hard is it to not implement DRM?
Re:DRM? (Score:4, Informative)
Isn't it the *publisher* that decides whether or not to use DRM? In which case the distributor (Kobo , Amazon, B&N, Diesel or whoever) have to offer DRM or DRM-free according to the publisher's wishes?
No Android App (Score:2, Insightful)
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I won't even seriously consider them until I can read their books on my tablet and phone. I was an early adopter of eBooks, buying my first Rocket eBook reader back around 1998, so I don't have anything against dedicated devices, but there's no longer any need, and I already carry a phone and a tablet which both work great as eBook readers... and with all three of the eBook reader apps I use I can even bounce back and forth between devices, reading on my tablet when it's handy or on my phone when the tablet isn't nearby.
Probably relates to the DRM issue above... Kobo's had an iOS app for ages.
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They've had a kobo app for Android forever...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kobobooks.android
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Re:No Android App (Score:4, Informative)
Um.... did you even bother to check? Because yes Kobo DOES have an Android app, I've got it on both my phone and my rooted Nook Color.
Re:No Android App (Score:5, Informative)
They do have an Android app [google.com]. They've had it for years.
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I don't know what tablet/phone you have, but Kobo has both Android and iPhone apps.
Of course the greatest selling point they have is that they are not Amazon. That whole employing Neo-Nazis to police their slave labour [time.com] / fucking over third party sellers [guardian.co.uk] / software patents thing makes me want to spend as little money as possible in their store.
Re:No Android App (Score:5, Informative)
They use Adobe's ebook DRM scheme, so I just use ePUBee [epubee.com] to yank it out.
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Thanks for the link.
Linux access (Score:5, Informative)
Forget the android app, how about Linux access?
A week or two back, after seeing the Iain Banks announcement on Slashdot, I decided it was time to buy "The Hydrogen Sonata" and went to the Kobo store to get it. I don't have Windows or Mac in the house, and use Calibre to talk to my Kobo.
I knew it would have DRM, but figured that Linux didn't have to understand it, as long as the Kobo could. But the Kobo store wouldn't even permit me to download any sort of file at all - it would ONLY work through an Adobe Digital Editions plug-in. Looking on WineHQ the current version of A.D.E. doesn't run on WINE.
Happily Kobo refunded my money, though it took a little doing. I'd rather they sell me a file that can be read on my Kobo, even if not on Linux. It would have seemed to me that the Kobo would generally appeal to the same type of people who prefer the politics of Linux - but they've cut me out of their store.
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For future reference, the adobe digital edition version is the drm-wrapped epub for transferring to any compatible app/reader. For kobo store to kobo reader, they use their own format (though it's still epub inside I think) - the formatting is a little better sometimes than the epub version. So you can buy in the kobo store, on pc or reader, and then sync directly over wifi into the kobo without needing to run it through calibre or any pc first - once it's in your kobo store library, you can delete and down
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I see you're running 1.7.2 - the one WineHQ rates as "gold". The current 2.0 is rated as "garbage". I've found and downloaded 1.7.2 from Tucows, but I think I'll try it on my public library before trying to buy another book from Kobo - and even then I'll buy cheapy first.
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I use a Samsung Media Player 5 for an ebook reader with FBreader. It works well and it fits my pocket better. I need the 5" screen as that size seems to be perfect, big enough but not too big. Actually almost exact same page size as a paperback book without the margins. If I can't carry it in my pocket it is no good to me. I do like the kindle's e-ink display better though.
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If you want a pocket-sized e-ink reader, find a Bookeen Cybook Opus. They've stopped making them, but they have a 5" screen and the case is designed so it fits nicely in a pocket, all rounded edges.
They support either epub or MobiPocket, but not both at once. (It takes a firmware flash to switch back and forth.)
I like mine enough that when I broke it (dropped something heavy on it. Oops.) I hunted up another rather than get a larger reader, even though I wound up paying more.
They also have physical buttons
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Thanks for that info.
French books in Kobo e-book reader (Score:3, Informative)
Except its a lie. (Score:5, Insightful)
Kobo Inc is owned Rakuten...who are Rakuten you may ask. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakuten [wikipedia.org] Among its numerous online properties, its flagship B2B2C e-commerce platform Rakuten Ichiba is the largest e-commerce site in Japan and among the world’s largest by sales...in case you were wondering.
Because I know you want to know http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=rakuten.co.jp [google.com] this is the washing machines they sell.
Re:Except its a lie. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Except you can now compare Kobo not with Amazon, but the e-book department of Amazon.
I didn't really buy into the CEO's comments because I believe Amazon would have had an e-book team larger than their entire company. But I didn't think his conclusions must be wrong, because indeed the Amazon would adjust its e-book related operations to serve the enterprise's other interests.
Now that I know Rakuten owns it, it's a different story.
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Or you could just use their English page. :)
http://global.rakuten.com/en/ [rakuten.com]
Right.... (Score:2)
So said (Score:3)
Wrong. (Score:3)
The problem is that they don't sell washing machines.
Amazon make enough profit in other areas of their business (eg: advertising) that they don't need to make a profit selling eBooks.
They have shared infrastructure that lowers the cost of providing their eBook service.
Even if they make a loss selling eBooks, they'll still make money from additional customers hitting their ads.
Kobo must make enough profit to pay for everything - hosting, development, HR, CEO bonuses - from selling eBooks and eBooks only. Their product is going to cost more or they will make less or even lose money.
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At Amazon's e-book prices there is no way they can fail to make a profit.
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I don't think Amazon is a perfect company, but they definitely are pro-consumer in the same way that great multi-supplier salesmen all are - they want the best deal for the customer, not the supplier, and they collect their money for providing good customers to the suppliers.
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It depends on the publisher. All of Tor's e-books are sensibly priced and DRM free as a matter of policy.
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The problem is that they don't sell washing machines.
Amazon make enough profit in other areas of their business (eg: advertising) that they don't need to make a profit selling eBooks.
This is actually the case with Kobo, too. As others have pointed out, Kobo is owned by Japanese internet giant Rakuten, which makes a lotta money. In their earnings statements, they don't even break out the Kobo division's revenue as a separate line item. So they said Kobo revenues were "up 143%" last year, but they didn't say how much they actually were. Thus I take their claim that they're #2 in the ebook biz with a grain of salt.
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But Kobo don't share the same customers as Rakuten. Nobody is going to buy a DVD on Rakuten's website and get recommended a Kobo eBook the DVD was based on. Kobo are pushing themselves as a separate business, hardly anyone knows they're owned by a big Japanese company. In the American market that might even go against them.
If you had the choice of the same product for the same price would you pick a local company or an international one? What if that international company was from the country that attacked
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Considering that Kobo has very close to a majority marketshare in Canada (46% a year and a half ago, about double Amazon's), it doesn't seem surprising to me that they might be #2 globally. In the US, I would guess Nook would be second, but they don't sell it outside the US or UK, so it has a small marketshare globally.
Good luck with that approach. (Score:3)
I now start at Amazon for pretty much all my shopping. And I buy a LOT of stuff from them. I think they have a totally correct focus.
Re:Good luck with that approach. (Score:4, Interesting)
Yeah, claiming that focusing on one thing means you somehow have an advantage at *selling* that thing (vs. providing the "best" product regardless of sales) is pure CEO babble.
Case in point - Walmart. They don't really do anything well except being price competitive and stocking about a quarter million SKUs in one store. Compare to local businesses that usually have great service and do one thing really well. And we all know how that's turning out...
Re:Good luck with that approach. (Score:4, Interesting)
local businesses that usually have great service and do one thing really well. And we all know how that's turning out...
What great service, and what one thing do they do really well? I've never been impressed with the service obtained at the sort of store that Wal-Mart has killed. Wal-Mart is open 24/7 at nearly all locations. In big cities this isn't necessarily a huge triumph, but - actual example from ca. 2008 - your iPod adapter dies at 8 AM on Sunday, in the rural South, just after the start of a twelve-hour road trip. If you're lucky, there will be a Radio Shack down the road that will open around noon. Wal-Mart? They're open, the nearest one is visible from the highway, and it's only 20 miles down the road, because they put stores in towns of 5000 people. You go inside, get your adapter for far less than the Radio Shack rape price, and maybe even pick up some snacks for the road while you're in there. I don't buy my steak at Wal-Mart... but commodity stuff? Absolutely.
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I guess you are either too young to have actually experienced real small businesses in a town or from a really crappy area. Also, who gives a shit when all you are buying is a silly adapter where you already know what you want? The point of expertise and customer service is when you DON'T know what you want...
1) electronics/stereo stores (Radio Shack doesn't count, are you kidding me?). Last time I went into a decent stereo/home theater store the salesman spent about 20 minutes showing me their cool demo
Kobo is an anagram (Score:5, Informative)
I don't know why I am just now seeing it. I've always disliked the name and thought it was meaningless. But then I just realized it's "booK" with the letters all mixed up.
Re:Kobo is an anagram (Score:5, Funny)
I've always assumed it's some weird endianness issue. Which doesn't bode well for the actual e-books...
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My guess is that they heard about this study's [slashdot.org] conclusion that you can reorder the interior letters of a word and still have it be entirely readable, then realized it was pointless to do it with "book" and said screw it.
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Well, if we're admitting taking forever to get the joke, it took me damn near fifteen years to get that the name of Sonic the Hedgehog's sidekick was a gag. A real 'Oh, duh. ... how the hell did I miss that?' moment.
(Tails's name is Miles Prower.)
Physical interface (Score:3)
Sure, a touch-screen is nicer than a 4-way pad for selecting menu items, but I bought an e-reader to read books, not navigate menus. This is also my beef with the Kindle Touch/Paperwhite/whatever the non low-end models are called now. The basic bog-standard kindle, I can pick it up and hold it while reading without worrying if I'm about to accidentally turn a page, change the font size, exit my book, etc.
I did briefly own Kobo's lower end model for about 2 days before returning it. That one did have buttons, but you also had to go and make a cup of tea between every page turn. Kobo no longer even sell that model, or any others with page-turn buttons.
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I've got two Kindles, the first is the Kindle Keyboard (AKA Kindle 3), and the second is the Paperwhite.
I do miss the buttons a bit. If I had it my way, I'd have the paperwhite with both a touchscreen and page turn buttons. The touchscreen is enormously better for doing pretty much anything else on the thing, be it buying a book, selecting a book, changing an option, chapter selection, etc. But the physical page turn buttons were better.
That said, it's not that bad, and accidental page turns haven't really
B&N Doesn't Sell Washing Machines Either (Score:5, Insightful)
Hmmm... and it is working for them to beat Amazon.
Great E-readers don't sell. (Score:2)
It's all well and good to be a one product company that does one thing really well. The truth is, you need to work with a lot of different organizations if you are in the E-reader business. And E-readers are no more end goals than Phones.
This is where the size of Amazon plays a big role. Sure, they sell other stuff. But they sell books (dead-tree versions). And music. And movies. And they can sit down with publishers and set terms, sign up authors, make money off advertising, and do a lot of other things
IBTimes? this must be spam (Score:2)
Isn't IBTimes widely regarded as one of the slimiest sites around. Notice that, if you try to stop the auto play video it will wait a minute or two and then auto resume.
Netflix for books (Score:2)
I know there's another site, can't remember the name, that let's you subscribe to all the ebooks you can read. If I were Kobo, I'd work something similar out. I'd give my ereaders free or severely discounted access to an online repo of ebooks "for rent". Also, make the damn things bigger.
If they're going to say they're specializing, then they have to be the best in town.
Re: Netflix for books (Score:2)
They did just announce a 6.8" reader, limited only to this year, to see if it's popular. It also has the highest DPI of any dedicated reader at 264, the same as a retina iPad. I'm actually sort of considering getting it.
http://www.techspot.com/news/52251-kobos-68-265-ppi-aura-hd-ereader-is-coming-this-month-for-170.html [techspot.com]
I worry I will be disappointed by the title availability and price, and I really like Whispersync for Voice...
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I read PDFs and epubs on my kobo often. It kind of sucks for PDFs, but it is usable and I've read plenty of PDFs that way. The navigation could be improved and the size of the reader limits reading PDFs to landscape mode, which makes about one paragraph legible at a time.
I think I'd buy that if I knew the PDF problem was better handled...
Only size will cure it (Score:2)
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It's still an eInk Pearl display, though. The different resolution displays all use the same eInk screen, but they put a different resolution of magnetic grid behind it.
Having compared macro shots of my Kindle 3 and Kindle Paperwhite, I wonder if they're not getting near the limit of how much detail the Pearl display can resolve anyhow, regardless of the resolution of the magnetic grid behind it. On the Kindle 3, the pixels were very noticeably square, but by the time they hit the paperwhite they were a lot
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Dude, nice. I appreciate that! (I, too, have an account on dslr!)
Can you tell me if the increased dpi/resolution makes reading PDFs any better? Like if I increase the resolution on my laptop I can display more information in the same area.
Kobo #2? Really? (Score:2)
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They're #2 worldwide overall, although a lot of people don't realize it because they've had nothing but trouble trying to crack into the US market where they've been a distant also-ran from the get-go.
Slashvertisment (Score:2, Insightful)
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Seriously. Since when are they ahead of the Nook? I've heard of them before, but I thought they had dropped way back in recent years.
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http://www.digitimes.com/Reports/Report.asp?datepublish=2012/11/14&pages=V [digitimes.com]
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Nook wasn't even sold outside the US until a few months ago, and even then they only expanded to the UK. So of course Nook would be way behind.
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You know Europe? I bought mine there.
Bezos originally said the same thing. (Score:2)
Can't find the quotation, but early on he was very clear on Amazon having focussed on books, for what seemed like very good reasons. As I recall, the point was that there were humongous numbers of titles--far more than any physical bookstore could stock; there was a well-structured database of them--Bowker's Books In Print; shipping size and weights were manageable; and there were straightforward and fairly speedy mechanisms to get any book in print from any publisher--you or I might have trouble ordering d
Adobe's DRM makes Kobo a dangerous trap (Score:2)
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There's some european and russian ones better than all those three but they cost significantly more and there's not really much of an integrated bookstore. Where Kobo wins is they make it very easy for you to find a book on a whim from the device itself, spend money, and get it in less time than it would take to google where to find a torrent.
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Those reference works translate quite well to this technology called HTML that's been around a few years now. I hear that there are even handheld devices which can navigate those sorts of documents efficiently...
Kobo? (Score:2)
Um unless there hardware has changed drastically they sold me the worst ebook reader I ever had. Couple that with DRM, a loading at that byzantine and no droid reader app. How about selling something that people actually want is the way to beat amazon? For physical goods prime is hard to beat.
Amazon's own fault (Score:2)
This is Amazon's own fault. The wife was looking for a ebook reading a long time ago, and the only realistic option was the Sony (the others were el-cheapo "Aluratek" and the like). Because Kindle and Nook were NOT AVAILABLE in Canada. And even when it was, you were importing it from Amazon US - no way to get it straight from Amazon.ca
So Kobo jumped right in the big hole Amazon and B&N left by not offering their products in the Canadian market. People started buying Kobo's, showing it to their friends,
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Nook still isn't, but the Kindle is sold by Amazon.ca directly now.
When I bought my Kindle Keyboard, it was shipped from Amazon US, but the Paperwhite was a domestic shipment.
Re: Focus all you want... (Score:4, Informative)
For me the value and Amazon is almost entirely in the user reviews that's why I go there; it's what makes me keep coming back. unless you're huge like Amazon you will have that kind of feedback from users all you really have in the product description and that's it.
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Re: Focus all you want... (Score:4, Informative)
Re: Focus all you want... (Score:5, Insightful)
... which are full of fake, paid content. I stick to fiction with a better plot ... on my Kobo.
Re: Focus all you want... (Score:4, Funny)
I don't know about you but I like these reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AKDL1-Dedicated-Link-Cable/product-reviews/B000I1X6PM [amazon.com]
http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Digital-Ethernet-Connection-meters/product-reviews/B003CT2A6I?pageNumber=2 [amazon.com]
http://www.amazon.com/AudioQuest-K2-Terminated-Speaker-Cable/dp/B000J36XR2 [amazon.com]
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you can buy those at $1-3 per review
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amazon has zero monitoring/takes zero actions to ensure that reviews are valid. Even yelp with it's questionable reviews is more reliable than amazon. Amazon's review system and google's are about the same in terms of reliability.
Re: Focus all you want... (Score:5, Interesting)
I tend to aim for the one star reviews and see what the major gripes are. So long as it is a major gripe that I don't anticipate running into, or at least I think that for the price it's worth the risk, then I'll go ahead and buy it.
For example I bought a cable recently, which had two single star reviews. Both were complaining that the cable was too short. The description said 4 feet. 4 feet is exactly what I wanted, so I bought it, and what do you know, I got a 4 foot cable.
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Amazon Showroom Effect (Score:5, Interesting)
Now, I go to Amazon to check reviews, but do most of my shopping on specialized vendors like Newegg or B&H Photo & Video. The specialized stores tend to have slightly better prices, or better selections, or better recommendations. Amazon is now my showroom for the rest of the Internet.
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This.
The point you mentioned is one of the textbook problems of internet marketing. All those shops are available within a click. You can see and compare the prices and you will eventually buy that same product from the most competitive (assuming that all of them are credible).
That's the exact thing I do. I go to physical shops just to see and test the product and then buy it online for at least 10-20% cheaper price.
The most attractive offering of Amazon is in fact its reviews and bigger inventory of books.
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Indeed. Also, Amazon's prices are among the lowest. Another big selling point of Amazon is that we already have our shopping data saved on Amazon (credit card, address, etc). In theory, if I cross shopped for typical items I buy, I could have saved a few bucks by buying from other vendors, but this means I have to spend time entering my credit/address data, and then deal with yet unknown to me return/support policies.
Re:Focus all you want... (Score:4, Interesting)
Ah but focusing *can* lead to superior results.
A lot of Amazon ebooks that are OCR scans (rather than directly made from author's digital source) are complete junk full of errors. (example: 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene) Now if their "focus" involves having human readers who *like* reading books as a hobby go through the scan and correct OCR errors by referencing the printed book, then yes I would say their focus can make them the best.
Re:Focus all you want... (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes. I just downloaded a Kobe book - so far, half way into it, I'm finding it a much better experience. Every. Single.Amazon.Book. that I've purchased has numerous, obvious typos. Every single Amazon book that I've purchased has crap for illustrations. They're horribly compressed like they were planning on sending them through a 300 baud modem. Trying to read a history book with crap for maps is unpleasant and unnecessary.
The illustrations in the Kobe book are pleasant, readable, zoomable. The reader is even nicer. Color me impressed so far.
Re:Focus all you want... (Score:5, Funny)
Yes. I just downloaded a Kobe book - so far, half way into it, I'm finding it a much better experience. Every. Single.Amazon.Book. that I've purchased has numerous, obvious typos. . . .
s/Kobe/Kobo/ ... Every.Single.Slashdot.Post ...
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I think you'll find the typos are actually Amazon inserting a digital fingerprint in every copy downloaded. I noticed it a while back and checked a book against a friends device that had the same book - the typos were not in the same place.
I'm guessing the idea is that if you somehow steal a book out of Kindle / Kindle app then they'll know who did it
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Last I heard, AWS was Amazons largest source of profits now, having pulled ahead of the entire retail business.
It looks like Amazon is a "cloud vendor" now, with a retail business to fall back on if the cloud doesn't work out.
Re:Focus all you want... (Score:5, Interesting)
You heard wrong. The estimate is that it will account for about 20% of Amazon's profit in 2013. It is growing faster than the rest of their business, though.
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Which is kind of ironic considering their cloud vending came from their retail business. Amazon used to have tons of extra server power set aside which was just used keep the site running smoothly during the insane blitz of online shoppers during the holiday season. Of course that only lasted for a month or so out of the year so they began to lease out that extra server power during all the months it wasn't in use.
This is a myth. AWS founder addressed in in a Quora answer: http://www.quora.com/Amazon/How-and-why-did-Amazon-get-into-the-cloud-computing-business [quora.com]
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Wow. That Quora post has a lot of buzzwords.
Re:Focus all you want... (Score:4, Insightful)
Except that's just not how the market work. Focusing might sound good on the surface, but in reality it's not going to be the most successful. It might even be better for the customers that it has, but it's not going to make more money. First off, if you can buy everything from one place then you are used to and comfortable with buying stuff from that place, so a vast majority of people will buy stuff from that store. Who do you think sells more dog food in America, Petco or WalMart? Secondly, if you're a company with more revenue streams, you have more resources to develop new products, and you have more resources to hold yourself up between the time you release those products and the time you actually start making a profit off of them.
You can argue that Kobo's focusing could lead to better results in terms of user experience, but they aren't going to beat Amazon in terms of market share unless they really come up with something consumers think is unique and amazing.
Re:Focus all you want... (Score:5, Interesting)
Except that's just not how the market work. Focusing might sound good on the surface, but in reality it's not going to be the most successful. It might even be better for the customers that it has, but it's not going to make more money. First off, if you can buy everything from one place then you are used to and comfortable with buying stuff from that place, so a vast majority of people will buy stuff from that store. Who do you think sells more dog food in America, Petco or WalMart? Secondly, if you're a company with more revenue streams, you have more resources to develop new products, and you have more resources to hold yourself up between the time you release those products and the time you actually start making a profit off of them.
You can argue that Kobo's focusing could lead to better results in terms of user experience, but they aren't going to beat Amazon in terms of market share unless they really come up with something consumers think is unique and amazing.
I'm just going to point out a few minor flaws in your argument. In Petco vs Walmart example, WalMart is still only in one industry, retail. This is considered relatively focused as far as the market is concerned. The issue with Amazon is that they've actually diversified outside of retailing such as Video Streaming, Cloud Vending, Logistics (third party sellers and Amazon then distributes), and other smaller segments. So Amazon is not focused. But on the other hand, Kobo is too focused. They only do one thing. But I totally agree with you that they need something amazing to beat Amazon since Amazon has such a head start on Kobo in the market.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is a spectrum of focus. 1. Ultra-focused: Petco and Kobo, 2. Focused: Walmart, 3. Not Focused: Amazon, 4. Conglomerates: 3M, Time Warner.
Corporate Finance basically tells that Ultra-focused companies usually end up in niche positions. Companies like Walmart generally do very well. Amazon will still do OK, because their "diversified" businesses come from core capabilities required to succeed at their core business, ie logistics and excess server power. And then conglomerates generally trade at a discount in the stock market because generally the disadvantages of diversification outweighs the advantages, and individual investors can diversify themselves as opposed to having to invest in diversified companies.
That being said, I don't think Kobo will be able to beat Amazon anytime soon. After all there aren't that many David vs Goliath stories unless there is mismanagement or the "Goliath" is resting on its laurels.
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"The issue with Amazon is that they've actually diversified outside of retailing such as Video Streaming, Cloud Vending, Logistics (third party sellers and Amazon then distributes), and other smaller segments. So Amazon is not focused"
On the other hand, you could say that Amazon has simply turned those things into commodities, in which case they are still very much focused on retail.
Kobo isn't the only one who is on focus (Score:2)
'We don't sell any washing machines, we don't sell radios. We are not focused on the next server farm to offer data services. It is a question of focus.'
Kobo's CEO may think that he's the only one doing the focusing and he's implying that Amazon has lost focus ...
Well, he might have a point ... but then, he's not entirely right either
You see, Amazon may have branched out to non-book categories, but that does not mean they have lost focus
What happens is that Amazon has shifted their focus onto something else
It's all about business viewpoints
Amazon started out carving out a niche market --- selling books online --- but when that niche market is filled with c
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Or you sue them...
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1. Focus on your core competencies. ...?
2. Diversify.
3.
4. Profit!!!!!! (for consultants)
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