Despite Vietnam's growing internet penetration, there remain many challenges for the e-book market to blossom.
According to an analytical report on Doanh Nhan Saigon, over the course of five years since e-books were introduced to the country, the e-book market has only grown very modestly. The reason for such slow growth is that many e-book platforms owned by publishers only offer books that are digitized and published by themselves, but rarely do books from other publishers make the cut.
Even independent platforms such as Waka, Alezza, and Komo offer a very limited selection of books, the report said. Compatibility between devices and e-book formats is another challenge distributors should address.
However, many are making efforts to resolve these issues. YBOOK, a major e-book platform belonging to Youth Publishing House, is collaborating with libraries all over southern Vietnam to build online libraries of chorographical books which map out a geographical region or district.
Waka, an independent platform and a latecomer to the market, has been distributing books from many publishers around the country and working with translators on several projects it has bought the copyrights for. Recently, the platform collaborated with printed book publisher Saigon Books to help them establish an e-book distributing channel using the Waka platform.
[Photo via VietnamNet]
