Andre Yoskowitz
25 Dec 2009 22:00
Large book retailer Borders has confirmed this week that the chain does not intend to build and sell their own e-reader, despite rivals Amazon and Barnes & Nobles seeing strong demand for their e-reader devices, the Kindle and the Nook.
CEO Ron Marshall added: "I don't anticipate us doing our own e-reader for a whole variety of reasons, not least of which is that we're not a technology company. We're booksellers."
Instead, the retailer will partner with the new Kobo e-book service, and make its book collection and content available to as many e-readers as it can. Kobo is set to launch in March, and Borders owns a 20 percent stake in the venture.
The e-book service should include a library of two million purchasable books, 1.8 million free books, and subscriptions for newspapers and magazine. Kobo will be compatible with the Nook, Sony Readers, iPhones, Android devices and BlackBerrys. Notably absent from the list is the Kindle.