Testimony from Apple executive Keith Moerer in the ongoing e-book price fixing trial between Apple and the U.S. Department of Justice reveals that Apple now holds an impressive 20% (approximately) of the U.S. e-book market. That number is roughly double previous estimates from third-party observers.
Publishers Weekly, via MacRumors:
The government also focused on the relative success of the iBookstore asking Moerer what marketshare the store held in the months after launch (about 20% Moerer said) and what its marketshare was after several years of operation and adding Random House in 2011 (also about 20%).
Moerer pointed to the growth of the iBookstore in order to challenge the U.S. government’s assertion that Apple’s efforts in the e-book marketplace had been a failure, charging that “Apple pricing was unfair to consumers,” and that “Apple sold fewer books because of the higher price caps.”
Moerer challenged those assertions, “I disagree. E-book sales grew 100% last year at the iBookstore and it had over 100 million customers.” The government countered that “when you drop prices you sell more books,” and Moerer said, “sometimes, yes.”
Testimony in the case has entered its second week, and Apple senior vice president for Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue scheduled to take the stand on Thursday.
