Telekom Shuts Down Pageplace Amid Weltbild Collapse and Tolino Alliance Uncertainty
The collapse of Weltbild has had widespread impacts on the German book market and is also sparking plenty of speculation regarding the future of the Tolino Alliance. Now, the situation has taken another unexpected turn, as Telekom is shutting down the eBook distribution platform Pageplace entirely out of the blue.
Operations will continue until February 28, 2014, allowing digital books, magazines, and newspapers to be purchased. However, after that, distribution will be discontinued. You’ll have until March 31, 2014, to download purchased content or transfer it to a Tolino partner. After that, it’s the end of the line.
Notice of the Pageplace closure on the homepage
Telekom isn’t disclosing the precise reasons for the closure, but an especially set-up page states that they want to focus more on further developing the Tolino devices. Simply put, it likely means Pageplace was too costly or not profitable enough. According to Die Welt, the platform currently has around 180,000 users, though only a small fraction of them appear to be active. Pageplace currently boasts over 120,000 eBooks, 1,100 magazines, and 150 newspapers to choose from, according to their data.
Is Telekom Interested in Weltbild?
The timing for Telekom’s platform shutdown could hardly be worse, as from a customer’s perspective, it doesn’t exactly instill trust when, following Weltbild’s insolvency, a Tolino partner ceases operations. However, one must also consider whether there’s more behind the shutdown.
It’s possible that Telekom has an interest in Weltbild’s digital business, as it encompasses not only the Weltbild online shop but also Hugendubel’s (see imprint). Both are important partners in the end-user sales channel for Tolino Shine and eBooks. In such a case, it would obviously make sense to shed unnecessary baggage that doesn’t appear to have been particularly lucrative, and to position oneself for a possible takeover. However, at this point, this is purely speculative and should always be approached with a fair degree of skepticism.
On a more tangible note, Bastei Lübbe has indeed expressed interest in Weltbild’s digital business. Speaking to the Wirtschaftswoche, the company’s CEO said, “I can definitely imagine that certain parts of Weltbild, such as the digital business, could also be of interest to us.”
Despite Strong Market Growth, Now Uncertainty
No matter how well the digital holiday sales season went for the Tolino Alliance in 2013, the coming months are marked by uncertainty. Particularly concerning is the Pageplace closure, especially in light of the fact that negotiations with independent booksellers to join the Tolino Alliance apparently failed due to the high financial demands of the Tolino partners.
One might start to feel that the Tolino partners have slightly miscalculated. However, you could counter that the launch of Tolino in the market was likely well-considered, with sufficient financial backing to make it happen. Nonetheless, perhaps it wasn’t initially planned for the Tolino Shine to remain on the market at a price of 99 euros. In fact, Club Bertelsmann had listed the device from May 1, 2013, at 119 euros. However, the price change never took place.
The upcoming months might be a tough test for the Tolino partners, depending on how the Weltbild insolvency pans out. From the customer’s perspective, the Pageplace closure comes at a bad time and doesn’t leave a good impression. We’ll have to wait and see if there’s more to it than meets the eye.
