By Edward Nawotka

Today’s lead story discusses the importance of cell phone e-reading in the Chinese market. We reported in May that China Mobile will launch its own mobile e-book store. In emerging markets, cell phone are far more ubiquitous than dedicated e-reading devices, which are more expensive than phone and thus more exclusive and rare. In the US and Europe, dedicated devices have a foothold in the market, but as cell phones continue to grow in size and functionality, the relevance of dedicated e-readers looks to wane. Surely there will remain a market for users who want larger, power-efficient dedicated devices — but this is likely to remain limited by the relatively small number of avid readers who consume lots of books. For the occasional book reader, cell phones may be the most viable and least expensive option.

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