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Random House chief executive Markus Dohle is expecting e-books to contribute more than 10% of the total US revenue next year, according to an interview in German magazine http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/vorab/0,1518,709472,00.html" target="_blank">Der Spiegel.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKLDE67007W20100801?rpc=401&feedType... target="_blank">A Reuters article translates the piece, in which Dohle said e-books were already generating 8% in the US, where it had risen "by leaps and bounds." He added: "I could well imagine that we get beyond 10% next year. This is a major opportunity for us. It helps us record new growth."
Dohle said that he did not expect e-books to generally overtake printed books in the next five years http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/34624/amazon-paperbacks-hardbacks-last-l... target="_blank">- contrasting with a prediction made by Amazon last week.
"I don't share this view, that's too aggressive, too much hype for my taste," he said. "The share will probably be somewhere between 25-50% by 2015, even in the United States."
Dohle went on to explain why Random House had not signed up to sell books through Apple's iBook Store, saying he was not sure about Apple's model whereby publishers determine the end-consumer price.
"We've got to think very hard about whether we want this drastic change in our business model," he said. "The question is if publishers know how to find the right retail price... This hasn't been our job in the past."
"One hundred days in the iBook Store won't decide about success or failure," he said. "We think we have to tread carefully to find a business model that is sustainable for the years to come."