Little action at Apple's iBookstore

Apple’s iBookstore may need beefing-up if it is to fulfil its promise, or so it appears. A quick check of the available in-store titles reveals 60,000 books in there for sale — contrast this with the 700,000 books available via Amazon’s Kindle and its pretty clear there’s backstage conflicts between the two book stores.

Approximately half the titles included within the Apple catalog are free ones from Project Gutenberg. TUAW notes Apple’s limited offering of books that appear in the much touted New York Times Best Seller’s List, higher prices and lack of a recommendation system as reasons for the relative weakness of Apple’s store.

Apple’s failure to agree terms with some big publishers, including Random House, are also cited as reasons for the relative weakness of the iBookstore offering.

In August, author Joe Konrath revealed he was selling 200 books a day for the Kindle and only 100 per month on the iBookstore. This has now accumulated to 70,000 Amazon sales and just 400 sales via the iBookstore.

Will Apple begin a wave of price cuts to stimulate sales via its service?