- Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will reportedly redesign its iBooks app to take on Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) in the e-book and audiobook spaces.
- Bloomberg reports that Apple hired an Amazon exec to help with the redesign, which will launch in the coming months. The new name Books already shows up in the preview version of iOS 11.3.
- Sources say the new app will have a Reading Now section and audiobook tab. Amazon owns leading audiobook company Audible, and Google just launched audiobook sales.
- Apple shifted away from an e-book focus in 2012 after the Department of Justice sued the company and publishers for scheming to raise book prices. Apple received a $450M fine.
- E-book market share as of Feb. 2017 (and Oct. 2015): Amazon, 83.3% (74%); Apple, 9% (11%); Barnes & Noble, 4% (8%). Source: AuthorEarnings.
- Smart speaker deal: In other completion news, Sonos has a sale where two Sonos One speakers sell for the same price as Apple’s HomePod, which launches tomorrow.
- The $349 sale price represents a $50 discount on the Alexa-enabled One.
- Apple shares are down 0.4%.
- Previously: Google starts selling audiobooks to take on Amazon (Jan. 23)