Amazon caves on book pricing

Amazon has reportedly agreed to allow publishers to set higher prices on its e-book titles.

The company has reportedly agreed to deals with book publishers Harper Collins and Simon and Schuster which would allow the companies to select their own prices rather than the default US$9.99 price tag, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The report suggests that new titles could be priced anywhere from US$9.99 to US$15 under the new deal.

Amazon has in recent months sought to rework its dealings with publishers as new competitors such as the Apple iPad have loomed in the market. Earlier this year Amazon looked to take early actions to appease publishers and authors by increasing its royalty payouts.

The move comes just days before Apple is set to release the first US versions of its iPad tablet. With several major book, newspaper and magazine publishers said to be on board the platform, many in the industry believe that the iPad could provide the stiffest competition yet for Amazon and its Kindle reader line.

Competition could be even fiercer in the UK, where the latest Kindle models have only recently made their debut. Apple has targeted the iPad for release in the UK by the end of April.