Questions continue to be raised on whether Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s acquisition of BookLamp will have a substantial impact on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in terms of competition in the books category space in which the latter has been a dominant force. Sources claim that Apple completed the acquisition of BookLamp with its Book Genome Project technology for between $10 and $15 million.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has already confirmed the acquisition in a statement and reiterated that it normally buys smaller technology companies from time to time without being obligated to give finer details about the transactions. BookLamp based on Boise, Idaho, is accredited to have developed its own system that digitally analyzes book content. Book Genome, just like ‘Music Genome Project’ on Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE:P), offers recommendations for new books.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is reported to have acquired the startup for the iBook store to offer e-books to iOS and OS X devices. Apple looks set to use BookLamp to improve generated suggestions when someone types parse words or when looking for various metrics like genre, themes or even pricing.
Book Genome can pick keywords, phrases as well as other data, consequently mapping them in a chart, for comparisons of findings with other analyzed books. The acquisition of BookLamp essentially outlines Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s desire to compete hand in hand against Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s Kindle store. According to reports, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) had tried to acquire BookLamp as a way of shielding itself from the greater competition generated if it was acquired by a big company like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).
The acquisition by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will in the long run help level the playing ground of books recommendations, a space that has been greatly dominated by Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) for quite some time. In the short run, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) will still be the biggest player, taking into consideration its massive customer base as well as a huge retail business that Apple might find a little bit hard to topple
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s end-game with BookLamp is still unknown, although the startups toolsets presents a number of possibilities from advertising options, tailored book “Playlists” and smart recommendations.
Disclosure: none
Suggested Articles:
