saw income from booksalesfall to 60% of total revenue in 2009. Sales of othergoods jumped 230% from a year earlier, butstillaccount for less thanhalfof all revenue.
In recent years, however, the act of reading has undergone a rapid transformation, as devices such as the Kindle and iPad account for a growing share of booksales. (Amazon, for instance, now sells more e-books than hardcovers.) Before long, we will do most of our reading on screens lovely, luminous screens.
If that eventually drives the competition away, Amazon (which is already projected to account for more than half of all U.S. booksales by the end of this year) would be essentially unchecked and able to set whatever prices it wants.