PROVIDENCE – Sony Corp. will begin selling electronic editions of The Providence Journal and The Boston Globe early this year for its line of Reader e-book devices, the company announced.
The Journal and The Globe were two of 16 publications Sony said last month it would begin offering “soon” for its three Reader devices, which cost $199 to $399. Others include The New York Times and The Dallas Morning News, which like The Journal is owned by A. H. Belo Corp.
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Sony did not say how much subscriptions to the papers would cost. The company’s Reader Store currently sells e-editions of three papers – the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Financial Times – for $10 per month. The Wall Street Journal costs $15 per month. Single issues cost 75 cents to $1 each.
“Sony is committed to building a digital reading ecosystem that offers consumers access to the most digital content possible,” Steve Haber, president of Sony Electronics’ Digital Reading Business Division, said in a statement. “The newest additions to Reader Store are some of the leading newspapers and magazines in the English language.”
Sales of digital reading devices, including Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle, will double this year to 6 million units, according to Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research Inc., Bloomberg News reported.
Despite having a head start, Sony has fallen behind Amazon in the United States. The Kindle makes up 60 percent of the U.S. market, while Sony has 35 percent, according to Forrester. Barnes & Noble Inc.’s new Nook e-reader was expected to begin shipping around New Year’s Day after repeated delays.
The Globe is currently available on the Kindle at $10 for a monthly subscription or 49 cents per issue. The Journal and A. H. Belo’s other papers are not available on the Kindle. An executive at the company said last May that the company did not like the amount Amazon.com takes from publishers when it sells their content.
