DoCoMo Joins DNP for e-Book Store

DoCoMo enters e-book market, 100k titles offered from this fall, partners with DNP, PR comments from LG, NEC & Samsung http://bit.ly/9NQXLD

NTT DOCOMO, INC. and Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP) announced today that they will partner in an electronic publishing business covering content aggregation, distribution and retail sales of e-books, which DOCOMO customers in Japan will access with a variety of mobile devices from this fall.

The business will use an open platform by combining DOCOMO’s existing content-distribution and payment systems with DNP’s planned hybrid digital/physical bookstores.

Initially targeting DOCOMO customers, the business will sell e-books via a mobile bookstore that users will access with DOCOMO wireless devices, including mobile phones, smartphones, tablet computers and e-book readers. The store will launch with more than 100,000 titles, including electronic books, manga comics, magazines and newspapers.

DOCOMO and DNP also are discussing the possible formation of a joint-venture company, collaborations with publishers and mobile-device manufacturers, and expansion into overseas markets.

DNP, one of Japan’s largest comprehensive printing companies, revealed last month its plan for a hybrid digital/physical bookstore system, which will combine the newly announced mobile store for e-books, the DNP group’s existing “bk1” online store for printed books and physical bookstore chains in the DNP group, including Maruzen, JUNKUDO and Bunkyodo.

Update Sept. 28th: DOCOMO, INC. announced today it will conduct a trial e-book distribution service from late October to late December, aiming at gaining feedback from customers prior to the start of a full-scale e-book retail service with Dai Nippon Publishing early next year.

During the trial, customers will have the opportunity to experience e-books via DOCOMO smartphones, such as the Android™-powered Xperia™ and Galaxy S models. The trial will offer about 50 titles, including electronic books, manga comics, magazines and photo books, some linked with supplementary videos and maps.