Kobo Chief Explains Why It Sidestepped a US Ebook Fight
Competing with Amazon, Google, Apple and Barnes & Noble for ebook sales in the United States is "a knife fight in a dark basement."
That is how Rakuten Kobo President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Tamblyn described the contest for American market share, meaning a portion of total sales. He was speaking to Open Road Chief Executive David Steinberger on the newest episode of the Open Book podcast.
The conversation was reported on 1 October 2026 Publishers Marketplace. It ranged across avoiding direct fights with rivals, changing reader demographics and internal debates about artificial intelligence. Steinberger hosts the show. Tamblyn appeared as guest.
Tamblyn said Amazon is the predominant seller of ebooks only in the US and the United Kingdom. In other countries, he said, ebooks are bought through local bookselling chains. That split shaped where Kobo chose to compete.
Kobo first established itself in Canada, its home market. It then expanded into Europe and Asia rather than fight for a larger slice of the United States. The logic was simple. Why enter the basement.
Kobo describes Tamblyn as the executive who drives its growth, profitability and international expansion in a fiercely competitive market. The organisation sells e-readers and ebooks in multiple territories and works with publishers and independent retailers outside the big US platforms.
The question of who buys ebooks has followed Tamblyn for years. In 2016, he said sales were driven by people over 50 Publishing Perspectives. That earlier comment was background to the latest discussion about shifting demographics, not part of the new episode itself.
Tamblyn has also spoken at length about self-publishing. In December 2024 he appeared on episode 359 of the Kobo Writing Life podcast to discuss the importance of indie publishing, meaning books released by authors themselves rather than through a traditional publisher. Kobo has separately created two new executive roles focused on publisher relations, meaning staff who deal directly with publishing houses.
