India is only at 54% internet penetration, so the reluctance of some publishers to embrace digital is understandable – but sorely misjudged. That 54% equates to 755 million people online. That’s already 443 million more than the USA, which has very little room to grow.
Som Nath Sapru’s assessment of the Indian book market is today’s opinion under scrutiny.
In this digital age, the Indian publishing industry is undergoing a landscape change — newspapers and magazines are witnessing a massive fall in subscriptions, whereas print books have comfortably adapted to the demands of the digital.
I have to admit I felt this article overly optimistic about the transition to ebooks in India. It does after all need meaningful consumer platform reach, and right now Amazon is the only meaningful show in town.
But as covered often in TNPS, the digital transition is progressing in India, albeit still with clear geographical demarcations.
The post is noteworthy for making no mention of audiobooks, and this of course is because while both Amazon and Audible are there, the range of audio content available is still tiny.
India is only at 54% internet penetration, so the reluctance of some publishers to embrace digital is understandable – but sorely misjudged.
That 54% equates to 755 million people online. That’s already 443 million more than the USA, which has very little room to grow.
Read Som Nath Sapru’s assessment of Indian publishing at Print Week.
