Building on Alcatel-Lucent’s mobile e-books store solution, KNV opens
up new business opportunities for booksellers across Germany,
Switzerland and Austria
KNV joins with Alcatel-Lucent to
deliver an unrivalled e-books experience
on any mobile device
Frankfurt am Main/Stuttgart, Germany, October, 2011 – Koch, Neff &
Volckmar GmbH (KNV) – Germany’s biggest book wholesaler – has
chosen the renowned Frankfurt Book Fair to show how booksellers
across Germany, Switzerland and Austria can successfully conquer the
rapidly growing (digital) e-books market. At the KNV booth (Hall 4.0 –
booth D1304), booksellers will receive strategic guidance on how to take
advantage of the move to digital content with an e-books platform from
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU). At the same time,
visitors to the booth can discover how they can download new titles on
their mobile devices from trusted retailers anywhere they like.
Beginning November 9th, 2011, KNV will enable its 7000 individual
bookseller customers to add e-books to their product portfolio by
commercially launching a digital storefront through a mobile e-books
store platform powered by Alcatel-Lucent. The platform enables the
individual bookseller customers to set-up, stock and begin managing their
own branded e-books shop in a very short period of time.
The digitization of literature represents an enormous market opportunity
for booksellers. According to a forecast by PriceWaterhouseCoopers
(2010), by 2015 over 2.5 million eReaders will be used in Germany
alone. However, eReader owners will continue to value the guidance
provided by established booksellers they know and trust. These
booksellers can now take advantage of KNV’s e-books store to expand
beyond their traditional offerings, and benefit from the consumer trend to
buy and read books on mobile devices at home or on the move – whether
they are using an e-book reader, smartphone or tablet.
“By relying on Alcatel-Lucent’s technology and support, we can help our
customers address the increasingly important opportunity represented by
e-books,” says KNV Managing Partner Frank Thurmann. “We invite
everyone to come to the KNV booth at the Frankfurt Book Fair and
experience for themselves our exciting apps for Apple and Android
devices.”
“Together with KNV, we are revolutionizing the book trade market. By
enabling thousands of smaller bookstores to rapidly enter the e-books
market with a customized, appealing offering that can be made available
on any device, we will accelerate the transition to digital media in
Germany, Switzerland and Austria,” said Alf Henryk Wulf, Head of
Alcatel-Lucent in Central Europe. “By bundling KNV’s book industry
expertise with our IT expertise, we are truly living this year’s Book Fair
motto Neues denken (new thinking).”
About iriver-Story HD-Wi-Fi:
For fans of e-book readers, KNV will also be showing the iriver-Story
HD-Wi-Fi. Weighing only 207 grams and offering a high resolution of
768 x 1024 pixels, the reader offers maximum quality in sharpness and
contrast. Wi-Fi technology is integrated for around-the-clock online
access to the electronic bookstore. The iriver-Story HD-Wi-Fi supports a
wide range of common data formats and is not subject to proprietary
restrictions. It can thus display e-books in any standard format. Its
powerful lithium-ion battery provides more than six weeks reading time
without recharging. Other features include electronic bookmarks and the
ability to mark text. The high-tech device’s 2 GB of storage has room for
up to 1,500 books and can be expanded by up to 32 GB with an SD card.
Users worldwide can access the more than 155,000 e-books of their local
booksellers via Wi-Fi. The unit will launch on the 9th of November and
cost €139.00.
About KNV and KNO VA:
The book wholesaler Koch, Neff & Volckmar GmbH (KNV) in Stuttgart
and Cologne, Germany, the affiliated company Koch, Neff & Oetinger
Verlagsauslieferung GmbH (KNO VA) in Stuttgart, and several book
wholesale, media logistics and IT subsidiaries are among the leading
logistics companies in the regional book trade.
KNV serves more than 7,000 booksellers in more than 2,200 locations in
Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the German-speaking regions of Italy
with a range that includes 155,000 eBooks and 480,000 printed books,
DVDs, audio recordings, games and other articles of the book trade, from
4,350 suppliers. KNV is one of the most important partners of the ecommerce
book trade.
Begun in 1829, the company is managed by the sixth generation of the
founding family and has more than 3,200 employees.
KNV Press Contact
Markus Fels
Telefon: (0)711 7860-2221
E-Mail: Markus.Fels@knv.de
About Alcatel-Lucent:
About Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU)
The long-trusted partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic
industries and governments around the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a leader
in mobile, fixed, IP and Optics technologies, and a pioneer in applications
and services. Alcatel-Lucent includes Bell Labs, one of the world’s
foremost centres of research and innovation in communications
technology. With operations in more than 130 countries and one of the
most experienced global services organizations in the industry, Alcatel-
Lucent is a local partner with global reach.
The Company achieved revenues of Euro 16 billion in 2010 and is
incorporated in France and headquartered in Paris.
For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on: http://www.alcatellucent.
com, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent blog www.alcatellucent.
com/blog and follow the Company on Twitter:
twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.
Alcatel-Lucent Press Contacts
Simon Poulter
simon.poulter@alcatel-lucent.com
T : +33 (0)1 40 76 50 84
Regina Wiechens-Schwake
regina.wiechens-schwake@alcatel-lucent.com
T: + 49 (0) 711 821 43843
Alcatel-Lucent Investor Relations
Frank Maccary
frank.maccary@alcatel-lucent.com
T : + 33 (0)1 40 76 12 11
Don Sweeney
don.sweeney@alcatel-lucent.com
T : + 1 908 582 6153
Tom Bevilacqua
thomas.bevilacqua@alcatel-lucent.com
T : + 1 908-582-7998
Constance de Cambiaire
constance.de_cambiaire@alcatel-lucent.com
T : +33 (0)1 40 76 10 13
