Murdoch: Amazon ready to talk e-book terms

03.02.10 The Bookseller

News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch has told analysts that he does not like Amazon.com's $9.99 Kindle price-point and that the giant internet retailer is ready to negotiate a new deal. The development comes only days after Macmillan US presented Amazon with its new terms for the sale of e-books, a move which had led to Amazon removing buy-buttons from the publisher's books.

Rupert Murdoch, who oversees a media empire than includes HarperCollins books, wants to renegotiate the current deal with Amazon, and said the world's largest retailer appears "ready to sit down with us again" to talk about new terms, reports Reuters.

"We don't like the Amazon model of selling everything at $9.99," Murdoch said when asked about electronic books during a conference call with analysts on Tuesday. They pay us the wholesale price of $14 or whatever we charge," he said. "But I think it really devalues books and it hurts all the retailers of the hard cover books."

Amazon did not comment to Reuters. It has still not restored Macmillan US titles for sale, after withdrawing them over the weekend.