Amazon announced that it will acquire Audible, the audiobook company in a share buyout deal worth about $300 million. The agreement effectively gives Amazon control of Audible’s audiobook collection and is described as an effort to develop and expand the audiobook forrmat, which has been largely dominated by Audible.

Amazon has not announced any of its immediate plans for Audible but is likely to have a major effect on the audiobook industry. The former’s Kindle e-book reader is currently focused on text and only supports MP3s for audio, preventing it from supporting Audible’s proprietary, copy-protected format for audiobooks. However, whether Amazon will add support to the Kindle or alter the store to support MP3s (similar to its music store) is unclear. Amazon has also declined to say whether Audible will continue to support third-party companies such as Apple, who have integrated the Audible format into devices such as the iPhone and iPod.

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