In the digital reading market, Vivlio's e-readers compete directly with those of Kindle (Amazon) and Kobo (Rakuten). What differentiates you from these behemoths?
David Dupre. We have a European vision. We work exclusively for cultural brands and European bookstore chains, such as Cultura, the Nosoli group (Furet du Nord, Decitre), Leclerc, Standaard Boekhandel, the largest bookstore chain in Belgium, the German Divibib, European leader in the library market, and the Spanish Casa del Libro (Spain). Our commercial strategy consists of reaching the major readers of these brands. Amazon and Rakuten are “pure players” of the Internet, they reach geeks and “early adopters”, but much less the big readers who are used to frequenting bookstores.
What is Vivlio’s business model?
We sell e-readers and digital Books. Thanks to Vivlio, European bookstore chains can offer their customers a digital book solution competitive with Amazon and Rakuten. Without Vivlio, their customers, mainly heavy readers, would turn to American and Asian platforms.
Where are your e-readers made?
Manufacturing is outsourced. The assembly of the e-reader components is carried out in factories in China. Then, the company of Ukrainian origin, PocketBook, operates 100% of the hardware industrialization activity for us. All e-readers currently on the market, even Kobo and Kindle, are made in China or Taiwan. For the screen, all the major players on the market work with the Taiwanese company E Ink, which is the only one to master premium quality electronic ink technology.
Our ambition is to be on par with Amazon within five years.
What is your medium-term objective?
We want to become a key player in digital books. Within five years, our ambition is to be on par with Amazon in several European countries.
Is this a realistic goal?
With our current growth rates and investments, this is entirely achievable. In countries where we have partnerships with major bookstore networks, we will eventually be able to compete with Amazon. In Europe, we currently have 10% market share in digital books and 15% in e-reader sales. In 2023, the major brands in our distribution network recorded double-digit growth, while growth in the digital book market is around 5% in Europe.
Is Vivlio profitable?
The company has been profitable since 2017. For two years, we have returned below the passion line because we have invested 2.5 million euros in structuring our teams. But the company will return to green this year.
Are you worried that giants like Apple will launch their own e-reader?
I don't believe it. Apple is already an important player in the book world with Apple Books. For these major players, this market is not strategic. This is also the case for Amazon. Ten years ago, Amazon relied heavily on Kindle. Over time, their book business has become a commodity within their offering.
At the end of 2022, Vivlio acquired Rocambole and its Doors application, a French platform for reading literary series in streaming on mobile. Do you anticipate the replacement of the e-reader by the smartphone?
Vivlio is still growing in e-reader sales. This product still has a bright future ahead of it, but it is certain that digital reading will evolve over the next ten years. A battle is being played out on the smartphone, particularly to reach younger generations who read shorter texts. This is why we bought Rocambole. We anticipate the possibility that the e-reader will become less and less central. The challenge is therefore to ensure that there is synergy between our different reading environments, e-reader and mobile application.
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