Dangdang's ebook store
Last month, we reported on the launch of Dangdang’s Ebook platform and apps. According to Dangdang (NYSE:DANG), the thing has over 50,000 titles, the company has made deals with half the nation’s publishers, and it’s full of bestsellers. Sounds great, right?
Apparently it’s not quite as great as it sounds, though. First Caijing Weekly points out that on the front page, for example, one of the first books you see is a bestseller, but it’s a bestseller from ten years ago. The same author’s most recent hit, which is burning up bookshelves right now, isn’t available via the platform.
In fact, looking at Chinese social network Douban’s list of the hottest books right now, only one of them appears on Dangdang’s platform. That’s Steve Jobs’s biography — definitely an essential for any Chinese bookstore — but users will be disappointed to see that the ebook isn’t really any cheaper than the print edition.
The ebooks also have some compatibility issues for Dangdang. Its books aren’t bound to their platform as tightly as Amazon’s ebooks are — you can read them on Hanwang ereaders, for example — which means it will be harder for Dangdang to push its own ereader device. At the same time, its iPad reading app, for the moment at least, isn’t in the official Apple store and thus can only be installed on jailbroken iPads.
Dangdang’s actual ereader device isn’t out yet, of course, and whether or not that’s appealing could have a big effect on the overall desirability of the platform. But Dangdang may want to step on the gas pedal, as Amazon is clearly beefing up their branding in China and reportedly in talks to launch the Kindle here, too.