14 DAY TRIAL // WH Smith is one of the latest retail chains that have decided to enter the e-reader business, although it won't make a device of its own, choosing, instead, the Kobo.
The media may have been keeping its eyes on the Kindle lately, what with Amazon's string of announcements, but other e-readers are seeing success as well.
Kobo is one of them, and it looks like the device will play a part in giving UK citizens access to a large catalog of titles.
Indeed, the ebook catalog qualifies as the largest in the UK and has 2.2 million titles, as well as one million free books.
This probably won't do much good to sales of physical books of course, not that analysts haven't been talking about the decline in paper books for months, even years, already.
WH Smith did say that the shipments of electronic content is meant to complement traditional print books, but it is only a matter of time before the world gets really digitized.
Granted, there will probably always be people who prefer the feel of a real book in their hands, but this hasn't, so far, proven to be a deterrent in companies' decision to follow the e-reader flow.
The choice to include two Kobo e-readers in its plans seems to be a preemptive measure against possible business decline in the future.
WH Smith did see a 4% increase in profits in the years that ended on August 31, but book sales fell 4%.
News and impulse buys, as well as books, proved the most lucrative ventures, as did the travel business, like in railway stations and airports.
Two versions of the Kobo will be up for sale, as was said above, one of which will probably be the Kobo Touch (Kobo eReader Touch Edition), which is detailed here.