The Key Video
Just after S. Job said that "The prices will be the same."
This is 1.55 minutes into the clip shown below.
Click on this small one (which appears slowly) to watch the videoclip on this page.
Additional video link (WSJ) (Somewhat larger)
According to Wall Street Journal articles quoted earlier here, Jobs had asked publishers to set their prices higher. Walt Mossberg of the Wall St. Journal, knowing that Amazon would be offering the Kindle for iPad app in Apple's store and that customers could decide to buy from Amazon instead, asked Jobs that day, in a video'd interview by Boomtown's Kara Swisher, why customers would pay Apple's book prices when they could buy at a considerably lower cost from Amazon.
Here's a transcribed excerpt from Benzinga.com
' In the video above, listen carefully to the Jan 27 conversation between The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg and Steve Jobs. At one point Mossberg asks Steve Jobs about the price advantage ($9.99 @ Amazon vs $14.99 @ Apple’s iBooks) that Kindle owners had enjoyed for certain Amazon.com ebook offerings. Jobs tactfully corrects Mossberg.
Mossberg: “[first part is inaudible] why should she buy a book for $14.99 on your device [iPad] when she can buy one for $9.99 at Amazon [inaudible]?”
Steve Jobs: “Well, that won’t be the case.”
Mossberg: “You mean you [iBooks] won’t be $14.99 or they [Amazon] won’t be $9.99?”
Steve Jobs: “The prices will be the same.” '
Somewhat Machiavellian? While people were wondering what Jobs meant and at least one online article optimistically wrote that Jobs apparently was willing to lower his prices to match Amazon's, Jobs was actually saying, though not explicitly, that either Amazon was not going to be able to sell them below $15 anymore or that Amazon might not then be able to sell them at all if Amazon didn't agree to the higher price now that the publisher could just sell them all at Apple).
Jobs apparently felt that Amazon would have to give in and sell the books at the same price Steve Jobs had set with the publishers (and he was right). Some publishers seemed to feel Steve Jobs would protect their margins and that he wouldn't insist on more controls for that service.
In the videoclip, note the turning away of the head and the smile when he says that Amazon's prices and his will be the same.
TIMELINE: Ebook Pricing Wars - what DOJ would have seen.
BACKGROUND re the new 'Agency' model and the 'pricing wars'...
For those new to the situation and interested in the background of the e-book pricing wars, earlier stories posted here include the following articles that have dirct links to the news sources used for them.
From the Kindle News articles, listed in ascending chronological order:
. Steve Jobs in NY asking publishers to raise prices. WSJ 1/26/10
Videoclip above is 1/27/10 at launch event.
. Amazon removes Macmillan books - Jan. 30, 2010 (with videoclip report)
. Amazon surrenders to Macmillan and Steve Jobs - Jan. 31, 2010
. Steve Jobs pulls his puppet strings but says too much (a key one) - Jan. 31, 2010
. Amazon plays hardball to keep lower pricing option - Mar. 18, 2010
. Amazon and Hachette e-books (and missing buy buttons) - Apr. 2, 2010
. WashPost: State AG probes Apple, Amazon over e-Book prices. What? - Aug. 3, 2010
. Why are some e-book prices higher than hardcover ones? - Oct. 6, 2010
. Newspapers headline Amazon UK forum rebellion against Agency pricing - Nov. 3, 2010
. Class Action Suit against Apple and Big5 publishers
re price fixing of ebooks. History and sourcing provided - Aug 9, 2011
"...an incredibly good read" - @techsavvyteach
. Justice Dept Threatens Lawsuits against Apple, publishers --
alleging Collusion over e-Book pricing - March 7, 2012
. TIMELINE: Ebook Pricing Wars - what DOJ would have seen - March 12, 2012
. US Dept. of Justice and Apple/Big5 may settle soon. The issues. - April 1, 2012
. WSJ on flawed arguments of Big-5 publisher defenders - April 24, 2012
. NY Federal Judge stays e-book class action case against Hachette and Harpercollins
- May 2, 2012
. Federal judge refuses to toss out class action lawsuit on e-book pricing,
citing damaging Apple statements. W/ 56-page ruling download - May 16, 2012
. 17 more states join class action suit
plus an excellent timeline and guide to points in DOJ and Class Action lawsuits,
by 'Dear Author' - May 20, 2012
. Apple wants to rush lawsuit - June 22, 2012
. US Judge sets June 3, 2013 trial date for DOJ's Apple & Big2 e-book lawsuit - June 23, 2012
. DOJ's take on Apple's Response - July 23, 2012
. from DoJ-Apple Trial - June 6, 2013
Apple loses the case - July 10, 2013
. Clues, on the last day of the trial, that Apple had lost the lawsuit after Eddy Cue
had resorted to saying Steve Jobs was "confused" and a key e-mail piece was passed off
as an early draft though the judge wasn't fooled - July 11, 2013
You can download:
. Judge Cote's Decision, 7/10/13
. the full Class Action complaint in PDF format, 8/9/11
. the 56-page ruling by District Court Judge Cote, 5/15/12
. Response of DOJ to Public Comments on Proposed Final Judgment, 7/23/12
Antitrust Case Filings at the US Dept. of Justice
The actual Trial Exhibits for this case are included.
(A fascinating read, because of the inclusion of information from voluminous emails never meant to be public, is the PDF file for Plaintiffs' Proposed Findings of Fact. It's more interesting than most mystery or detective books I've read, and it's still up to the reader to sort out what it all really means.)
(Related class-action documents by Hagens Berman are at hbsslaw.com.)
and paidContent gave the following document links (see blog entry of 5/20/12
Downloads linked at the paidContent story:
. The states’ amended complaint (5/11/12)
. The states’ original complaint (4/11/12)
. The Department of Justice’s complaint (4/11/12) Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
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