By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter
KT Corp. plans to launch an e-book business in April, company employees said Thursday.
They expect the new business to give additional momentum to its wireless data Internet services at a time when the local e-book market is showing signs of growth helped by increased awareness on wireless data consumer devices.
"We will start the e-book business in April. KT has been in the final stages in narrowing some technical matters for the launch," KT spokeswoman Kim Yoon-jeong said.
She said company CEO Lee Suk-chae is very keen to expand the wireless data Internet business portfolio to tablet PCs and smartphones, as well as e-books.
As for its initial move, KT plans to take a "two-track strategy" ― providing content to markets and expanding telecommunication lines including its Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) system, a company executive said.
"KT plans to boost the size of the local e-book market by directly selling content. We will lift demand for wireless Internet services that combine with e-books," the executive added.
KT is moving to provide over 50,000 items for e-books in April, spurring competition between local bookstores in its bid to secure related contents.
Representatives say KT will adopt Wi-Fi, WiBro and WCDMA for its own e-books. By using its Wi-Fi Nespot zones, the company plans to strengthen its competitive edge and attract local e-book players.
The plan comes at a time when Korean electronics majors and leading local telecom carriers are drastically reshaping their corporate strategies for e-book leadership.
To secure their bottom lines in the promising sector locally, and challenge Apple Inc.'s tablet-style iPad, the Korean companies are developing strategies, hoping to capitalize on new interest in a category of gadgets that was moribund until recently.
An e-book is a digital device, allowing users to read books on less than 10-inch flat-screens.
Apple's iPad will cannibalize existing product categories of net-books, smart-books, e-book readers and mobile Internet devices, market watchers say.
E-books are expected to make up 20 percent of all publications locally by 2012 from an estimated 5 percent this year, according to the Korea Electronic Publishing Association (KEPA).
KEPA said the sector itself will rise to 2.4 trillion won by volume from 1.6 trillion won in the same period.
Although Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and iriver are hoping to boost their e-book businesses through tie-ups with Internet giants Google or Yahoo, as well as KT, the South Korean e-book market is still in its infancy.
Kyobo Book Center just entered the market, while some Internet book sellers such as Inter Park and Aladdin are on the fringe.
Cash-strapped local publishers are reluctant about the sector because of skepticism over profits and initial development costs.
"Due to higher worries over copyright issues, content providers are passive about expanding their distribution channels. Even the local market still lacks diversification. We hope KT's content-providing plan will help the local e-book market find some momentum," an employee at Kyobo Book Center said.
KT, the nation's top fixed-line operator and the second-biggest telecom carrier after SK Telecom, is known to have allocated a bigger budget for the new business.
Its rival SK Telecom plans to advance into the e-book market in the first half of 2011 as the company has doubts over content and infrastructure.
"KT is the first player to enter the e-book content market based on its telecommunication networks," the executive added.