Apple Raising iBookstore Visibility by Exhibiting at BookExpo America for the First Time

bookexpo americapaidContent reports that Apple is looking to increase the visibility of its iBookstore by participating in the upcoming BookExpo America trade show with a booth in a "prime location" on the exhibit floor. The booth marks Apple's first appearance at the event and a rare appearance by the company at a third-party trade show, especially since its effort to essentially eliminate such participation that culminated in the company exiting Macworld Expo several years ago.

The company has a large booth in a prime location, next door to Scholastic and in the same area as major publishers including Random House, Disney (NYSE: DIS) Book Group and Macmillan. BEA's website notes that Apple will be represented by Scott Simpson from Apple's iBookstore.

Apple is not expected to make any particular product or service announcements at the conference, and is likely attending simply to raise its profile in the e-book market as it seeks to grow share competing against such major players as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Update: A BEA representative has clarified with paidContent that Apple will not be exhibiting publicly at BookExpo America, only meeting privately with publishers at the event. Apple continues to be listed on the BEA site as an "exhibitor", but other details promoting the company's presence have been removed.

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Production Will Reportedly Begin Ramping Up in October

Tuesday July 23, 2024 2:00 pm PDT by
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Kuo: Ultra-Thin iPhone 17 to Feature A19 Chip, Single Rear Camera, Semi-Titanium Frame, and More

Wednesday July 24, 2024 9:06 am PDT by
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Less Than Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Thursday July 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
icloud private relay outage

iCloud Private Relay Experiencing Outage

Thursday July 25, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature Purple

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Mechanical Aperture

Tuesday July 23, 2024 9:32 am PDT by
Apple is planning to release at least one iPhone 17 model next year with mechanical aperture, according to a report published today by The Information. The mechanical system would allow users to adjust the size of the iPhone 17's aperture, which refers to the opening of the camera lens through which light enters. All existing iPhone camera lenses have fixed apertures, but some Android...

Top Rated Comments

bmturney Avatar
172 months ago
really want to raise iBooks visibility???

Lower prices... when I can buy the Kindle version of a book (that I can read in the Kindle app on my iPad) from Amazon for 30% less than in the iBookstore... I won't be buying many (if any) books through the iBookstore
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
logandzwon Avatar
172 months ago
Apple needs three things in this market;
- iBooks needs to be readable on the desktop.
- The need to add content.
- They need to competitive with their pricing.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ipedro Avatar
172 months ago
I'm not confident that Apple can win this market. I'm a big Apple fan but I still prefer the look of e-Ink and the simplicity of a single purpose eBook reader.

If Apple begins selling standard format ePub books, that I can interchange between my eReader an iPad and an iPhone, I think that the iBookstore would do better.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
goobot Avatar
172 months ago
Maybe apple will expand their itunes application on the computer to gain access to the store, it would make sense.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macUser2007 Avatar
172 months ago
Lower prices... when I can buy the Kindle version of a book (that I can read in the Kindle app on my iPad) from Amazon for 30% less than in the iBookstore... I won't be buying many (if any) books through the iBookstore
Yeah, well. The prices at Amazon and other ebook retailers would have been even lower, if Apple had not tried to muscle its way in by getting in bed with the publishers and pushing the agency model, which forbids retailers like Amazon to drop prices lower than allowed by the publishers.

Apple has been an evil force in the ebooks market.

Oh, and what happened to Steve Jobs' "Nobody reads anymore...?"

(I do like eInk much better for pure reading - I don't read at all on my iPad anymore).
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Daveoc64 Avatar
172 months ago
I've seen this comment so many times its laughable.

Apple DO NOT set the price of the books, the Publishers do - and the price the publisher sets is the price it sells for, not a penny more. Amazon DO NOT set the price of the books, the Publishers do. Amazon DO sometimes (but not always), add fees for things like "whispernet delivery". Stop blaming Apple or Amazon or anyone else and look to the publishers. They, and ONLY they, set the price.
Apple forces publishers to use the agency model (where Publishers control the price of books).

Amazon has been very vocal in opposing the agency model, and here in the UK and EU it's under investigation as being anti-competitive.

Due to its questionable legal status, and some publishers not liking the model overall, not ALL publishers use it (those that don't use it aren't allowed on the iBookstore)

For those publishers that do not use the model, Amazon's pricing is generally much lower than its competitors.

To say that Apple doesn't set the price is true, but it's not really showing the whole picture - it was their idea to let publishers set the price in the first place.

Amazon DO sometimes (but not always), add fees for things like "whispernet delivery".
Amazon never adds fees for delivery.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)