Time Inc. wants to start competing with Amazon's Kindle and other electronic readers before the end of the year, say insiders. It's a big shift in strategy by Time, which earlier this year
said it would not introduce its own e-reader. But things have changed, and Time's plans for the e-reader market are on a fast track.
According to an in-house presentation, the giant
magazine publisher is seeking to unveil its plans within the next three months. The presentation concludes that Time Inc. and other partners should form a new, jointly owned company. Time might
spin out its Maghound service, which lets consumers bundle multiple magazines together into a single monthly subscription, to form the base of the joint venture. The company is also considering
acquiring other businesses to jumpstart the venture.
Elsewhere in the industry, News Corp. is exploring an electronic reader for its newspaper business. Hearst also unveiled plans for an
e-reader in March. At that time, Time Inc. executives said they had no plans to enter the field.
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