Publishers' Response to the iPad Divided into Aggressive and Conservative Factions

Both Internet news sites and newspaper pages are buzzing with publishers' responses to the release of the iPad in Japan. The ten-odd companies who comprise the Association of Japanese Electronic Book Publishers were queried by telephone, and irrespective of company size, many responded that they were still studying the situation. On one hand, companies already selling apps for the iPhone are looking into cases where they may also respond to the iPad, with responses at bipolar opposites.

According to Diamond Inc., "If the Girl Manager of a High School Baseball Team Read Drucker's 'The Practice of Management '" can download this to the iPhone in three sections, and this also sells on the iPad. Similarly Shufunotomo Publishing is preparing to offer a list of 50 practical use books. Shogakukan's "Digital Daijisen" dictionary and the comics of Taiyo Matsumoto are also for sale on the iPad. Future prospects for publishing companies to gradually build up online content are strong.

A small number of companies such as Kodansha and Diamond are developing apps exclusively for subscription. Although not from a publishing company, the software "iBunkoHD" is an app which can be used to read books at no cost.

Still, there are few apps available for the sale of both books and magazines online. In the future, as the number of books and magazines increases, if books can be sold as a separate category through a kind of iBookstore, then the potential for electronic books to expand will be even greater.