Baking iBooks into iOS 8 has led to 1M new users for Apple every week

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2015
Apple's iBookstore has averaged a million new customers every week since iOS 8 launched last fall, benefitting from the inclusion of iBooks as a built-in app.




Since iOS 8 debuted, iBooks has become an uninstallable native app on all iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices. That move has worked well for Apple, as the company revealed on Thursday that iBooks has averaged one million new customers every week since.

The data point was disclosed by Keith Moerer, director of iBooks, in an appearance at the Digital Book World conference in New York City, as summarized by GigaOm. In addition to its inclusion in iOS 8, iBooks sales have also benefitted from the larger displays of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, he said, with more users buying titles on their phones.

Moerer also boasted that Apple charges the same split, taking a 30 percent cut of all sales, whether a book is published by a major company, or if it is self-published by a smaller author. He said this helps Apple to support the creative professionals who frequently use its hardware and software.

"We view what we do as an expansion of our support of print professionals on the hardware and software side and the way we run our other media business," he said.

After debuting on the iPad in 2010, iBooks later expanded to the iPhone and iPod touch with iOS 4. It finally debuted on the Mac as well in 2013 with OS X Mavericks.

The iBooks platform and its digital textbook offerings have been a major part of Apple's push to sell iPads to education institutions. But up until iOS 8, iBooks was an optional download from the iOS App Store.

Joining iBooks as a built-in application starting with iOS 8 was also Apple's Podcasts app. Other downloads however, like iTunes U, Find My iPhone, or the iWork and iLife suites, remain optional downloads.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 33

    I could see Find My iPhone being pre-installed in the future (though it should remain removable), but nothing else should be. Even Podcasts is pushing it.

     

    Kindle for iOS is a design disaster, so I'm fine with iBooks being installed (Newsstand and iTunes are, why not iBooks?)

  • Reply 2 of 33
    nobodyynobodyy Posts: 377member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TheWhiteFalcon View Post

     

    I could see Find My iPhone being pre-installed in the future (though it should remain removable), but nothing else should be. Even Podcasts is pushing it.

     

    Kindle for iOS is a design disaster, so I'm fine with iBooks being installed (Newsstand and iTunes are, why not iBooks?)




    This is quite the contradiction! 

     

     

    Anyway, I don't think preinstalled apps are a big a deal and appreciate the growth it has driven to iBooks, regardless of the more complaining I hear around the net about it. 

     

    People don't seem to remember what real Bloatware is or why it is annoying. And damn I envy that.

  • Reply 3 of 33
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member

    I'm fine with it.  I'm a big iBooks fan.  Sure, Amazon usually has the same book at a lower price but I've had such terrible luck using their iOS Kindle reader app a while back, and I hate their bully-tactics to authors and publishers, I decided to give my business to Apple.  My books synch much nicer in iOS/OSX too.  I wasted way too many hours way back with a bad app-update that Amazon did.  Unless I have to buy a physical book, all my eBooks are Amazon-free now.



     

  • Reply 4 of 33
    yojimbo007yojimbo007 Posts: 1,165member
    Why didnt they do it from the get go ????

    Apple, once in a while makes some real dumb choices !!!
    More and more so on the software side lately !
    Whats up apple !?
    We need an obssessed , maticulouse, topnotch person at the top to bring things back in line Tim !
  • Reply 5 of 33
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member

    Since this topic won't die, I'll simply mention, as I've tried to in the past,

    that iBooks suffers the same price disadvantage relative to Amazon, that iTunes 

    does relative to Amazon Instant Video.

     

    Of the 13 books currently on my Kindle Wish List, released or to be released between about 6/14 and 7/15,

    8 are the same price on both services but 5 are less expensive by $2 to $3 on Amazon.

     

    Of the 8 older books currently on that Wish List, one has the same price, while 4 are less expensive on Amazon,

    and 3 are unavailable in iTunes, but, disregarding price, can be borrowed to be read free by Amazon Prime members.

     

    Granted this isn't a comprehensive comparison, but, as I haven't tried to "tailor" it in any way,

    I suspect it is representative in a fair but general way.

     

    BTW, I don't quite share TheWhiteFalcon's low opinion of Kindle reading apps on Apple devices.  

    I don't find it any clunkier than reading books in iBooks, which is to say, both could be improved.

  • Reply 6 of 33
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Nobodyy View Post

     



    This is quite the contradiction! 

     

     

    Anyway, I don't think preinstalled apps are a big a deal and appreciate the growth it has driven to iBooks, regardless of the more complaining I hear around the net about it. 

     

    People don't seem to remember what real Bloatware is or why it is annoying. And damn I envy that.


    Oh, I do lol. I had an Xperia Play from 2012-2013 before I was forced to get another phone when the software became unstable. But iTunes U is niche, and obviously there isn't room for iWork/iLife on the smaller capacity devices (I have them on my iPhone 6 and was fine with it). Podcasts is sort of niche.

     

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post

     

    I'm fine with it.  I'm a big iBooks fan.  Sure, Amazon usually has the same book at a lower price but I've had such terrible luck using their iOS Kindle reader app a while back, and I hate their bully-tactics to authors and publishers, I decided to give my business to Apple.  My books synch much nicer in iOS/OSX too.  I wasted way too many hours way back with a bad app-update that Amazon did.  Unless I have to buy a physical book, all my eBooks are Amazon-free now.



     


     

    Yep, iBooks is really nice. I like that it auto-shifts at night to a black background. I refuse to buy Kindle books anymore, I either buy iBooks or get DRM free ePubs for my Sony Reader.

  • Reply 7 of 33
    boredumb wrote: »
    Since this topic won't die, I'll simply mention, as I've tried to in the past,
    that iBooks suffers the same price disadvantage relative to Amazon, that iTunes 
    does relative to Amazon Instant Video.

    Of the 13 books currently on my Kindle Wish List, released or to be released between about 6/14 and 7/15,
    8 are the same price on both services but 5 are less expensive by $2 to $3 on Amazon.

    Of the 8 older books currently on that Wish List, one has the same price, while 4 are less expensive on Amazon,
    and 3 are unavailable in iTunes, but, disregarding price, can be borrowed to be read free by Amazon Prime members.

    Granted this isn't a comprehensive comparison, but, as I haven't tried to "tailor" it in any way,
    I suspect it is representative <span style="line-height:1.4em;">in a fair but general way.</span>


    <span style="line-height:1.4em;">BTW, I don't quite share TheWhiteFalcon's low opinion of Kindle reading apps on Apple devices.  </span>

    <span style="line-height:1.4em;">I don't find it any clunkier </span>
    <span style="line-height:1.4em;">than reading books in iBooks, which is to say, both could be improved.</span>

    Personally, independent authors should publish their books on the iBookstore exclusively, if they expect a better royalty result.
  • Reply 8 of 33

    >>>iBooks suffers the same price disadvantage relative to Amazon

     

    ?I like Apple's iBooks for altruistic purposes. Before Apple got into the game, Amazon was taking 70% and giving authors 30% of the sale. Apple turned that on it's head. Even today, they impose their 30% or 35% author payout on many occasions, such as sales to certain foreign countries, or if your book is priced at a certain amount. So, I think Apple is more fair to authors.

  • Reply 9 of 33

    I think Apple may have not included iBooks before for anti-trust purposes. You will remember that Apple complained that Microsoft included Internet Explorer but refused to include other browsers as a default install.

  • Reply 10 of 33
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post

    Personally, independent authors should publish their books on the iBookstore exclusively, if they expect a better royalty result.

    ...which addresses only the three books unavailable on iBooks but borrowable on Amazon, I think?

    The reason they would not do as you suggest, or, perhaps, haven't, to date, would be the very great difference in exposure on Amazon...

    although, with the reported numbers of readers "finding" iBooks

    - at least experimentally, as they discover it on their devices -

    there's a chance of that dynamic evolving.

  • Reply 11 of 33
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by justbobf View Post

     

    >>>iBooks suffers the same price disadvantage relative to Amazon

     

    ?I like Apple's iBooks for altruistic purposes. Before Apple got into the game, Amazon was taking 70% and giving authors 30% of the sale. Apple turned that on it's head. Even today, they impose their 30% or 35% author payout on many occasions, such as sales to certain foreign countries, or if your book is priced at a certain amount. So, I think Apple is more fair to authors.


    Before you applaud yourself out, you might note that, in fact, Amazon gives 35% to authors, 35% to publishers,

    and keeps only 30% themselves...there was not a time when Amazon was "keeping" 70%, unless you'd like to document that?

    so, if Apple gives 'only' 30% to authors...hmmm...perhaps "altruism" means something different from what I thought...

  • Reply 12 of 33
    pazuzupazuzu Posts: 1,728member
    Sorry Apple/If it's not e-ink I'm not reading the book.
    Besides the Kindle app lets me read on a plenitude of devices including Apple's- all seamlessly fr the cloud w many more extras.
  • Reply 13 of 33
    mpantonempantone Posts: 2,033member

    I love iBooks, but not for the iBooks Store (I don't have any problems with the store though).

     

    I'm mostly using iBooks to store some documents: a bunch of user manuals, transit maps, some music scores, a few Project Gutenberg books, and a handful of miscellaneous PDFs (like the tide table for one nearby beach).

  • Reply 14 of 33
    yojimbo007yojimbo007 Posts: 1,165member
    Ahhh. But what about itunes then.. Isnt it the same comparison.
    Itunes has always been included!

    The way i see it .. Iphone/ioad are an apple products.. And ibooks is an apple product.. Thry belong together !
  • Reply 15 of 33
    yojimbo007yojimbo007 Posts: 1,165member
    justbobf wrote: »
    I think Apple may have not included iBooks before for anti-trust purposes. You will remember that Apple complained that Microsoft included Internet Explorer but refused to include other browsers as a default install.
    Ahhh. But what about itunes then.. Isnt it the same comparison.
    Itunes has always been included!

    The way i see it .. Iphone/ioad are an apple products.. And ibooks is an apple product.. Thry belong together !
  • Reply 16 of 33
    sflocal wrote: »
    I'm fine with it.  I'm a big iBooks fan.  Sure, Amazon usually has the same book at a lower price but I've had such terrible luck using their iOS Kindle reader app a while back, and I hate their bully-tactics to authors and publishers, I decided to give my business to Apple.  My books synch much nicer in iOS/OSX too.  I wasted way too many hours way back with a bad app-update that Amazon did.  Unless I have to buy a physical book, all my eBooks are Amazon-free now. 

    I would like iBooks a lot better if they didn't make finding an audio book in the store like such a sasquatch hunt... Then once the audio book is in my iTunes library and on my Mac, finding it is still a hunt to rediscover it again! It needs to be a listed category.
  • Reply 17 of 33
    justbobf wrote: »
    I think Apple may have not included iBooks before for anti-trust purposes. You will remember that Apple complained that Microsoft included Internet Explorer but refused to include other browsers as a default install.

    Here all this time I thought it was Netscape that complained...
  • Reply 18 of 33
    Baking iBooks into iOS 8 has led to 1M new users for Apple every week

    The title says it all... what an amazing number!! NEW users.... w00t!!
  • Reply 19 of 33
    boredumb wrote: »
    ...which addresses only the three books unavailable on iBooks but borrowable on Amazon, I think?
    The reason they would not do as you suggest, or, perhaps, haven't, to date, would be the very great difference in exposure on Amazon...
    although, with the reported numbers of readers "finding" iBooks
    - at least experimentally, <span style="line-height:1.4em;">as they discover it on their devices -</span>

    <span style="line-height:1.4em;">there's a chance of that dynamic evolving.</span>

    World wide there are over 2.5 million books on the iBookstore. I've got a 200 million user base. Why the hell do I need exposure from Amazon and use their mobi format? I'd prefer straight up EPub 3.0 or customizations with the .ibook format.
  • Reply 20 of 33
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    So does this means that Apple is going to up real effort into improving iBooks Author? I realize iBooks Author is free but that doesn't that it should stagnate. IBooks Author needs to be turned into a full blown Authoring system, that allows the majority of the authorship to be done within iBooks Author. Last I knew they recommended text creation in another editor and frankly that is hilarious.
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