Apple iBookstore to hit Japanese Market in January 2013

A Japanese publication named ‘Nikkei' has reported that Apple will extend its digital store to Japan this month. According to this report, Apple will launch iBookstore in Japan as early as January 2013 and the company has teamed up with big Japanese publishers for the launch.

The major publishers claimed to be involved with Apple's Japanese iBookstore are Kadokawa, Kodansha, and Shogakukan. Apart from that, there are other famous Japanese publishers who signed up with this venture. The publishers who are involved with Apple's digital bookstore have about 80,000 titles lined up already.

Apple is already leading in the tablet market in Japan. It is reported that this tech giant holds about 60% of market share in the iPad category. Therefore, quite a good response can be expected from Japanese customers with the launch of iBookstore.

It is also obvious that the digital readers from other manufacturers in Japan are going to have a rough time in January 2013 with Apple's iBookstore. The current market share for Apple in Japanese digital book market is reportedly about ¥70 billion.

In the next couple of years, Apple is expecting to increase the share up to ¥200 billion. No doubt that the major reason for this increased share will be iBookstore.

With Kobo, Amazon and Google already established in Japan, Apple's iBookstore would be a latecomer in the market. Even so, the popularity of iPad in Japan can impart a significant advantage to Apple's new venture in digital book market.