Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos shows off his company's new Fire smartphone at a news conference in Seattle, Washington June 18, 2014.
IN PHOTO: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos shows off his company's new Fire smartphone at a news conference in Seattle, Washington June 18, 2014. Bezos unveiled a $200 smartphone called "Fire" on Wednesday, equipped with a 3D-capable screen and an ability to recognize music and TV shows, hoping to stand out in a crowded field dominated by Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics. REUTERS/Jason Redmond (UNITED STATES - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS TELECOMS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) REUTERS/Jason Redmond

One and half years old Oyster, a subscription service for e-books announced recently that it is launching its e-book store on its platform. With the launch of this e-book store, Oyster has driven in the five largest book publishers in the U.S. that include HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Hachette, Simon & Schuster and others. Through Oyster’s new e-book store, readers, including non-subscribers, can buy and read virtually any book from these five publishers, that includes all new releases and pre-orders. Besides that, readers can continue to subscribe Oyster’s subscription service for $9.95 per month, says Oyster.

According to Oyster's CEO Eric Stromberg, there is a huge demand in the market for a product that would deliver a better user experience along with good design and the growth of Oyster proves it.

Stromberg says, readers want to go to one place to access all books and see all their options. With the launch of the new e-book store, Oyster plans to pair the best in subscription and retail at one place.

Oyster had launched its first e-book subscription service in September 2013. Oyster claims it has built a large user base reading over 100 million pages every month. "Since the launch of its subscription service in September 2013, Oyster has shown itself to be an innovative player in the ebook market," said HarperCollins Chief Digital Officer, Chantal Restivo-Alessi, in a press release issued by Oyster. "HarperCollins looks forward to growing its relationship with Oyster as it expands the choices it offers consumers,” Chantal Restivo-Alessi further said.

Competition with Amazon

Oyster’s newly launched e-book store is a competitor to Amazon. While Oyster now has five top publishers onboard, “Amazon is nowhere close to striking any deals with these publishers”, reports Wired. As per the report on Wired, Amazon had clashed with French publisher, Hachette over online book pricing and the conflict between both the parties was settled in November last year.

A report on CNET points out, Oyster users cannot access its services on Amazon’s Kindle e-reader as it does not have an app for the Amazon’s Fire tablet. Oyster services can be accessed through an app for computers, smartphones and tablets.

(For feedback /comments, please mail the writer at pragyan.freelance@gmail.com)

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