Amazon has shown again that content is its real business in the ebook sector rather than selling pesky Kindle hardware and has also revealed that around a quarter of the ebooks in the Kindle store are exclusive to Amazon.
A deal with smartphone and tablet giant Samsung will see Amazon launch a custom-built ebook service just for Galaxy users.
The Samsung for Kindle app is now available for the newly launched Galaxy S5 and for existing Galaxy smartphones and tablets running Android 4.0 or above. The firm is aiming to sell 35 million Galaxy S5 handsets by June, which would top the estimated total of Kindles sold since their introduction.
The Amazon deal offers up to 12 free ebooks a year to all referred Galaxy device customers who use the service. People can choose a free book from a selection of four different titles a month. Each book is chosen specifically for Galaxy owners from a wide selection of prominent titles.
The partnership should widen Amazon’s reach particularly in Asia where South Korean Samsung is based.
Jorrit Van der Meulen, Vice President, EU Kindle, says: “With Kindle for Samsung, people around the world will have instant access to the best digital bookstore and reading experience, including more than half a million titles that are only available from the Kindle Store.”
That 500,000 exclusive figure represents 25% of the total of around two million titles in the Kindle Store.