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34 : The Global eBook Market: Current Conditions & Future Projections A rst survey on the Austrian ebook market, released on September 29, 2011, by the Austrian publishers’ and booksellers’ association (HVB) showed that just 17 per- cent of Austrian publishers have sold ebooks as of 2010. Another 21.7 percent are planning to do so in 2011, 30.1 percent at some point in the future, while 36 percent said that they had no plans for ebooks. This compares to Germany, where 35 percent of publishers already o er ebooks, and another 43 percent plan to include ebook editions in the near future. (For details, see the Börsenverlag study from spring 2011 in the discussion on Germany.) The Austrian study reveals several more distinctly di erent developments and expectations between the two countries, as even those publishers in Austria who have launched ebooks do so for just 10 to 20 percent of their new releases and prefer distribution from their own website (with online retailers and Libreka being the second and third most popular options for distribution). PDF is the prevalent le format with 88.5 percent of the titles, yet half of the ebooks are made available in EPUB as well, and 15 percent in the MobiPocket format for Amazon’s Kindle. Three out of four books are distributed with some copyright manage- ment included, yet only 35 percent of the books come with DRM, and 65 percent have digital watermarks built in. Under such circumstances, it is hardly surprising that no domestic infrastructure for ebook distribution and services has been set up, and publishers—just like local chain and independent bookstores—are instead encour- aged to use services from companies based in and run from Germany. At this point, no local branch o ces of any of the major German service providers have been opened. No data is available on ebook titles from Austrian publishers, nor are detailed revenue gures available so far. According to the publishers association, ebooks currently account for less than 1 percent of the book market, and the association’s projections are that this share will grow to 5 to 7 percent by 2015. According to Germany, where Austrian imports account for only about 3 percent (not, as expected by the equivalents in size, around 10 percent). In recent years, this imbalance has signi cantly increased. Between 2008 and 2010, in an overall at book market in both Germany and Austria, imports from Germany to Austria have increased by 8.14 percent, as exports by Austrian publishers into Germany slumped by a remarkable 24 percent, re ecting on a domestic publishing sector in Austria that has ever growing di culties in reaching out beyond is borders. The Austrian debate on ebooks has been largely shaped by Hauptverband des österreichischen Buchhandels, the Austrian publishers and booksellers support of their German equivalent Börsenverein, in their legal action against Google’s unauthorized digitiza- tion of copyrighted works from libraries and against the proposed Google settlement. Austrian publishers so far have been very cautious with regard to investing in digitization, with only a very few o ering current new print releases in ebook formats what electronic titles they do release are also di cult to nd in the catalogs of German distributors and online retailers. Some, like general trade publisher Haymon, had started to build a modest list in 2011 and add digital editions of their printed releases as a routine procedure as of spring 2012. For distribution of their ebooks, mostly German services have been chosen. But as on the German side, the ebook market is largely dominated at this point by a few of the leading publishing groups. It is forseeable that it will be ever harder for small Austrian house to carve out a digital niche. As no data on speci c ebook developments in Austria have been released for 2012 at this point, it can be only assumed that consumers in Austria, as they are tightly tied into German media and distribution networks for cultural content, will closely follow their neighbor’s overall evolution when it comes to ebooks and digital content.

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34 : The Global eBook Market: Current Conditions & Future Projections A rst survey on the Austrian ebook market, released on September 29, 2011, by the Austrian publishers’ and booksellers’ association (HVB) showed that just 17 per- cent of Austrian publishers have sold ebooks as of 2010. Another 21.7 percent are planning to do so in 2011, 30.1 percent at some point in the future, while 36 percent said that they had no plans for ebooks. This compares to Germany, where 35 percent of publishers already o er ebooks, and another 43 percent plan to include ebook editions in the near future. (For details, see the Börsenverlag study from spring 2011 in the discussion on Germany.) The Austrian study reveals several more distinctly di erent developments and expectations between the two countries, as even those publishers in Austria who have launched ebooks do so for just 10 to 20 percent of their new releases and prefer distribution from their own website (with online retailers and Libreka being the second and third most popular options for distribution). PDF is the prevalent le format with 88.5 percent of the titles, yet half of the ebooks are made available in EPUB as well, and 15 percent in the MobiPocket format for Amazon’s Kindle. Three out of four books are distributed with some copyright manage- ment included, yet only 35 percent of the books come with DRM, and 65 percent have digital watermarks built in. Under such circumstances, it is hardly surprising that no domestic infrastructure for ebook distribution and services has been set up, and publishers—just like local chain and independent bookstores—are instead encour- aged to use services from companies based in and run from Germany. At this point, no local branch o ces of any of the major German service providers have been opened. No data is available on ebook titles from Austrian publishers, nor are detailed revenue gures available so far. According to the publishers association, ebooks currently account for less than 1 percent of the book market, and the association’s projections are that this share will grow to 5 to 7 percent by 2015. According to Germany, where Austrian imports account for only about 3 percent (not, as expected by the equivalents in size, around 10 percent). In recent years, this imbalance has signi cantly increased. Between 2008 and 2010, in an overall at book market in both Germany and Austria, imports from Germany to Austria have increased by 8.14 percent, as exports by Austrian publishers into Germany slumped by a remarkable 24 percent, re ecting on a domestic publishing sector in Austria that has ever growing di culties in reaching out beyond is borders. The Austrian debate on ebooks has been largely shaped by Hauptverband des österreichischen Buchhandels, the Austrian publishers and booksellers support of their German equivalent Börsenverein, in their legal action against Google’s unauthorized digitiza- tion of copyrighted works from libraries and against the proposed Google settlement. Austrian publishers so far have been very cautious with regard to investing in digitization, with only a very few o ering current new print releases in ebook formats what electronic titles they do release are also di cult to nd in the catalogs of German distributors and online retailers. Some, like general trade publisher Haymon, had started to build a modest list in 2011 and add digital editions of their printed releases as a routine procedure as of spring 2012. For distribution of their ebooks, mostly German services have been chosen. But as on the German side, the ebook market is largely dominated at this point by a few of the leading publishing groups. It is forseeable that it will be ever harder for small Austrian house to carve out a digital niche. As no data on speci c ebook developments in Austria have been released for 2012 at this point, it can be only assumed that consumers in Austria, as they are tightly tied into German media and distribution networks for cultural content, will closely follow their neighbor’s overall evolution when it comes to ebooks and digital content.

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35 : The Global eBook Market: Current Conditions & Future Projections device was not shipped into Slovenia before spring 2011, so consumers had to travel to Austria or Italy to purchase the popular devices. Similarly, a signi cant number of readers bought a Kindle from Amazon online, as the gadget of choice to access Amazon’s vast catalog of English-language books. So far, only 300 titles are avail- able as ebooks. Also, no domestic distribution platforms have been created. The gap between a VAT of 8.5 percent on printed books versus 20 percent for ebooks further adds to the hurdle. Since 2011, the economic crisis has strongly impacted the Slovenian book market, and book sales dropped by an estimated 10 percent in the rst half of 2012 (information from Miha Kovac, of Mladinska pub- lisher and booksellers for this report). The emergence of domestic production of ebooks has stalled. For publishers, it is not a ordable to invest in building an infrastructure for a domestic ebook distribu- tion system, given the small size of the Slovenian market. With consumers often reading international bestsellers in English, and importing reading devices directly, the only realistic perspective for hooking up Slovenian publishers with digital developments may be opening Slovenian-branded stores—or channels—on interna- tional platforms such as Kobo or Amazon. By far the largest domestic player in the eld of books and reading is the publishing and retail group Mladinska (with holdings, in addition to Slovenia, in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Macedonia, and yearly group revenues of 120 million Euros from combined publishing and book- the professional association, digital platforms are not currently relevant in education. As in other European countries, books are subject to a reduced VAT of 10 percent, and ebooks carry the full 20 percent VAT and are discounted against printed editions by 10 percent on average. Slovenia Slovenia, a small country of 2 million that achieved independence only two decades ago upon the collapse of Yugoslavia, is an exemplary case for many markets at the periphery of the EU. In a tiny publishing market worth an estimated €80 to €100 million at consumer prices, more than 6,000 titles are released every year, which is almost threefold the output per 1 million inhabitants as compared to large markets like Germany or France. Slovenians are remarkably strong readers and are used to reading books not only in their native language, but also in English and, to a lesser degree, German. In larger bookstores, English titles—which represent an estimated 15 to 20 percent of the Slovenian market—are not in a separate “foreign language” section but are seamlessly intermingled with domestic titles. Public libraries add to the ample reading diet of Slovenians. Yet in the digital environment—which is controlled to a large degree by global players and designed for economies of scale, not niche markets—a country like Slovenia sees itself unexpectedly discriminated against, simply because of its small size. For instance, Apple’s iPad Slovenia Key indicators Values Source, comments Book market size (p+e, at consumer prices) €90 m Estimates by Mladinska publishers Titles published per year (new and successive editions) 5,621 (from 6,139 in 2010, of which around3,500 are trade titles) Estimates by Mladinska publishers Ebook titles (available from publishers) 300 Estimates by Mladinska publishers

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35 : The Global eBook Market: Current Conditions & Future Projections device was not shipped into Slovenia before spring 2011, so consumers had to travel to Austria or Italy to purchase the popular devices. Similarly, a signi cant number of readers bought a Kindle from Amazon online, as the gadget of choice to access Amazon’s vast catalog of English-language books. So far, only 300 titles are avail- able as ebooks. Also, no domestic distribution platforms have been created. The gap between a VAT of 8.5 percent on printed books versus 20 percent for ebooks further adds to the hurdle. Since 2011, the economic crisis has strongly impacted the Slovenian book market, and book sales dropped by an estimated 10 percent in the rst half of 2012 (information from Miha Kovac, of Mladinska pub- lisher and booksellers for this report). The emergence of domestic production of ebooks has stalled. For publishers, it is not a ordable to invest in building an infrastructure for a domestic ebook distribu- tion system, given the small size of the Slovenian market. With consumers often reading international bestsellers in English, and importing reading devices directly, the only realistic perspective for hooking up Slovenian publishers with digital developments may be opening Slovenian-branded stores—or channels—on interna- tional platforms such as Kobo or Amazon. By far the largest domestic player in the eld of books and reading is the publishing and retail group Mladinska (with holdings, in addition to Slovenia, in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Macedonia, and yearly group revenues of 120 million Euros from combined publishing and book- the professional association, digital platforms are not currently relevant in education. As in other European countries, books are subject to a reduced VAT of 10 percent, and ebooks carry the full 20 percent VAT and are discounted against printed editions by 10 percent on average. Slovenia Slovenia, a small country of 2 million that achieved independence only two decades ago upon the collapse of Yugoslavia, is an exemplary case for many markets at the periphery of the EU. In a tiny publishing market worth an estimated €80 to €100 million at consumer prices, more than 6,000 titles are released every year, which is almost threefold the output per 1 million inhabitants as compared to large markets like Germany or France. Slovenians are remarkably strong readers and are used to reading books not only in their native language, but also in English and, to a lesser degree, German. In larger bookstores, English titles—which represent an estimated 15 to 20 percent of the Slovenian market—are not in a separate “foreign language” section but are seamlessly intermingled with domestic titles. Public libraries add to the ample reading diet of Slovenians. Yet in the digital environment—which is controlled to a large degree by global players and designed for economies of scale, not niche markets—a country like Slovenia sees itself unexpectedly discriminated against, simply because of its small size. For instance, Apple’s iPad Slovenia Key indicators Values Source, comments Book market size (p+e, at consumer prices) €90 m Estimates by Mladinska publishers Titles published per year (new and successive editions) 5,621 (from 6,139 in 2010, of which around3,500 are trade titles) Estimates by Mladinska publishers Ebook titles (available from publishers) 300 Estimates by Mladinska publishers

33 : The Global eBook Market: Current Conditions & Future Projections As in most other European markets, a VAT of 6 per- cent is an advantage for printed books versus ebooks (taxed at a VAT of 19 percent, which will be rised to 21 percent by October 2012 source: Boekblad). Austria The case of Austria is a good example of a relatively small market neighboring a much larger territory and a market of the same language. With a population of about 8 million, Austria is roughly 10 percent the size of Germany in all major relevant respects for this study and shares both the vernacular and, largely, the current cultural and media framework of its dominating neighbor. Both countries are members of the European Union and the euro zone. Yet, with regard to printed books, books from German publishers already reign supreme in Austrian book shops, namely the chain stores as well as the online platforms of Amazon, Thalia, and Weltbild, serving the Austrian market from headquarters in Germany. Amazon also serves Austria from its German Kindle store, which opened a localized version in April 2011. Although local Austrian bestselling lists show, as would be expected, signi cant di erences from locally branded authors (e.g., local celebrities as well as local literary talent), the overall pattern and a share of roughly two-thirds of those charts are very similar to those in Germany (for details, see Diversity Report 2010). On the other hand, local Austrian publishers have always confronted substantial hurdles to bringing their books to retailers, to media, and hence to consumers in Querido and retailers and wholesalers Boekhuis and Luisterhuis, as well as ePagine itself and the British Gardners Books. Several more platforms have been launched to sell, stream, and lend ebooks, including Yindo and ebook.nl. Reading Devices In the Netherlands, iRex Technologies, a spino of Philips, introduced ereaders at the end of 2008 and reported sales of just over 4,000 units by the end of 2009. Sales rose to 50,000 ereaders by midyear 2010, but this was not enough to prevent iRex from ling for bank- ruptcy protection in June 2010. Several other ereader manufacturers have led for bankruptcy protection as well, including the manufac- turer of the Cool-er ereader and the European division of Foxit. In the meantime, a number of ereaders are available that have the capability to integrate with online stores. For example, bol.com o ers readers with Wi-Fi capabili- ties, among them the Sony eReader and the BeBook Neo, which was developed in the Netherlands. Pricing In the Netherlands, as in Germany, bookstores must use the price de ned by the publisher because of xed book price arrangements. The xed book price arrangement in Germany is not subject to any time restriction, whereas the corresponding arrangement in the Netherlands is applicable for only the rst year after the publication of printed and digital books. Austria Key indicators Values Source, comments Book market size (p+e, at consumer prices) €792 m Publishers Association Titles published per year (new and successive editions) 8,505 Publishers Association New titles per 1 m inhabitants 1,028

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33 : The Global eBook Market: Current Conditions & Future Projections As in most other European markets, a VAT of 6 per- cent is an advantage for printed books versus ebooks (taxed at a VAT of 19 percent, which will be rised to 21 percent by October 2012 source: Boekblad). Austria The case of Austria is a good example of a relatively small market neighboring a much larger territory and a market of the same language. With a population of about 8 million, Austria is roughly 10 percent the size of Germany in all major relevant respects for this study and shares both the vernacular and, largely, the current cultural and media framework of its dominating neighbor. Both countries are members of the European Union and the euro zone. Yet, with regard to printed books, books from German publishers already reign supreme in Austrian book shops, namely the chain stores as well as the online platforms of Amazon, Thalia, and Weltbild, serving the Austrian market from headquarters in Germany. Amazon also serves Austria from its German Kindle store, which opened a localized version in April 2011. Although local Austrian bestselling lists show, as would be expected, signi cant di erences from locally branded authors (e.g., local celebrities as well as local literary talent), the overall pattern and a share of roughly two-thirds of those charts are very similar to those in Germany (for details, see Diversity Report 2010). On the other hand, local Austrian publishers have always confronted substantial hurdles to bringing their books to retailers, to media, and hence to consumers in Querido and retailers and wholesalers Boekhuis and Luisterhuis, as well as ePagine itself and the British Gardners Books. Several more platforms have been launched to sell, stream, and lend ebooks, including Yindo and ebook.nl. Reading Devices In the Netherlands, iRex Technologies, a spino of Philips, introduced ereaders at the end of 2008 and reported sales of just over 4,000 units by the end of 2009. Sales rose to 50,000 ereaders by midyear 2010, but this was not enough to prevent iRex from ling for bank- ruptcy protection in June 2010. Several other ereader manufacturers have led for bankruptcy protection as well, including the manufac- turer of the Cool-er ereader and the European division of Foxit. In the meantime, a number of ereaders are available that have the capability to integrate with online stores. For example, bol.com o ers readers with Wi-Fi capabili- ties, among them the Sony eReader and the BeBook Neo, which was developed in the Netherlands. Pricing In the Netherlands, as in Germany, bookstores must use the price de ned by the publisher because of xed book price arrangements. The xed book price arrangement in Germany is not subject to any time restriction, whereas the corresponding arrangement in the Netherlands is applicable for only the rst year after the publication of printed and digital books. Austria Key indicators Values Source, comments Book market size (p+e, at consumer prices) €792 m Publishers Association Titles published per year (new and successive editions) 8,505 Publishers Association New titles per 1 m inhabitants 1,028

Page 6English-Language and Other eBook Markets click to expand contents

Page 14Market Close-ups click to expand contents

Page 53Key Drivers and Debates click to expand contents

Page 66eBook Piracy in Europe: The Example and Debate in Germany, and Related Findings click to expand contents

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