Digital Distribution Empire

744
0
There was an ad campaign a couple of decades ago by a major Chemical Society that asked the question “What in the world isn’t chemical?” Well today that question might be better asked, “What in the world isn’t digital?”   
 
One company poised to corner the digital distribution business is Amazon. Known for books then CDs, Amazon has evolved into a distributor of many different type of products, from electronics to tools, to health food. But as Amazon make inroads in digital music downloads, it has moved into digital books (thanks to the Kindle,) and has a digital download movie business called Amazon Unbox. Ultimately, they will sort through all the permutations of distribution, usability and rights management and strengthen their play in these categories — in which they are currently underperforming. And when they do they’ll have one supreme advantage: price.
 
As Amazon begins to cross-sell its various digital products it will be able to amortize costs and offer discounts which will be hard to copy. Buy two digital movies and a digital novel by Nelson DeMille and we’ll give you Shelby Lynne’s new single.
 
As Amazon becomes the online store for all things digital, they will be the Exxon Mobil of this generation.