The Bookseller.com

11th May 2008

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Waterstone's to stock Sony ebook

01.05.08 Graeme Neill

Waterstone's is believed to have signed a deal to stock Sony’s e-book reader when it is introduced into the UK later this year. It is understood that the retailer will be the exclusive vendor of the device in the UK.

The electronics giant is widely expected to reveal next month that its Sony Reader, which retails in the US for $299 (£150), will be introduced to the UK.

Waterstone's is thought to have signed a deal with Sony to sell the device instore from this summer, and has been in talks with publishers about selling e-books.

A number of trade publishers have rushed to announce e-book plans in the past few weeks and have been working hard to clear e-books rights on their backlists. Both Penguin and HarperCollins have adopted the .ePub format, which is expected to be readable on the Sony device following an upgrade.

Waterstone's will be the first bookseller in the UK to sell an e-book device, and the move will put it in direct competition with Amazon.com, whose Kindle reader is expected to migrate from the US to the UK later in the year.

In the US, Borders had an exclusive contract for the Reader until the end of 2006.

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