The Brazilian market has been a focal point of many companies that specialize in digital books. In recent months, Amazon, Kobo, and Google have jumped into the fray, hoping to capture a piece of one of the world’s largest markets. You may not hear a ton of news about the iBookstore in Brazil, but Apple is currently dominating the market.
Many industry analysts are very surprised by Apple’s success in Brazil. It charges all ebooks in USA dollars and an extra 6% tax on all transactions. Part of the reason why the company sells so many books is because of the proliferation of the iPad and iPhone. The Kobo Touch sells for close to $250.00 via the retail partners. Amazon is seeing lackluster success because the Kindle is only available through third party resellers. The e-reader market is fairly underwhelming as a whole, because of the prohibitive costs. It is easier for the average customer to just buy an iPad.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
