Google now in E-Book market

Unlike digital bookstores run by Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc. and Barnes and Noble Inc., Google's venture, unveiled Monday, is not tied to a particular reading device, Google said. Instead, its electronic books can be read on most devices and not just on those that the seller manufactures. An e-book bought from Apple, for instance, can be read only on an Apple device.

"Google is essentially going to try to break that model open" by allowing users to purchase books online and read them on as many devices as possible, said James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc.

Google is entering a market that has more than tripled in 2010 and is expected to grow by nearly 40% next year, to $1.35 billion, according to Forrester. By the end of 2011, more than 25 million U.S. adults will be regular e-book readers.

Google also has a big ace up its sleeve: The company has been scanning library books since 2004 and says it has digitized about 15 million books — close to 12% of the world's estimated 129 million books.

Amazon's Kindles make up about half of the market for black-and-white e-readers, not including devices like Apple's iPad or the Samsung Galaxy Tab. In addition to its Kindles, Amazon supports other platforms for reading its e-books, including Android-based devices, the iPad, the iPhone and the BlackBerry, as well PCs and Macs.

While Kindles hold half of the black-and-white e-reader market, the more serious question is how many books Amazon has sold through its e-readers.