Amazon.com has once again come out on top in the ongoing battle with Apple over control of mobile content delivery, with the ecommerce giant winning the right to position ebooks as a loss leader.

A judge yesterday ruled that Apple conspired with major publishers to drive up prices for ebooks as part of a plan to force Amazon to stop setting the price for many ebooks below market prices. The ruling is a boost to Amazon?s Kindle business and could see Apple?s profits take a hit if it is upheld.

?Clearly Amazon has won the right to sell loss leaders that promote its ebooks business,? said Carl Howe, vice president of research and data sciences at Yankee Group, Boston. ?That is what this is about and Apple was trying to prevent that.

?I do think it has a somewhat negative effect on the publishers because they now are like many retailers, at the mercy of what Amazon charges,? he said. ?They have basically granted Amazon, if not a monopoly, then a pretty large share of the ebook market and said you can?t challenge that by charging higher prices.

?It does reinforce Amazon?s Kindle business because people will perceive that as being able to buy cheap books.?

The battle continues
The ruling follows Amazon winning the right to use the term ?Appstore? for its mobile application marketplace after reaching a settlement with Apple that avoided a lawsuit scheduled to begin next month.

While Apple is looking to control the delivery of content and experiences over its platform, Amazon wants to be able to deliver content across as many platforms as possible.

Even though Amazon has won the two most recent battles, the fight is far from over.

?You are going to see wins and losses on both sides,? said Jeff Orr, senior practice director of mobile for ABI Research, Oyster Bay, NY.

?While it sounds like Amazon may have come out on top at the moment, it doesn?t deter Apple from its strategy of providing a very tightly integrated hardware, software and content ecosystem and experience,? he said.

?That can continue regardless of the naming of a service or a service vehicle like an app store or the ruling in the ebook pricing case.?

Profits hurt
The judge in the ebooks case issued an opinion yesterday saying Apple was fully complicit in a scheme to undermine Amazon as the retail pricing authority so ebook prices could be raised. The five book publishers Apple is accused of conspiring with previously settled out of court.

Apple is supposed to have initiated favorable contracts with publishers several years ago in advance of its release of the iPad in order to boost its content strategy for the new tablet.

Apple will appeal the ruling.

If the ruling is upheld on appeal, it could hurt Apple?s ability to drive profits because it changes the nature of the company?s relationship with publishers.

?It certainly would impact the profitability of content that is made available through Apple, as it had contracts with different publishing groups that gave it a most favored nation type of arrangement on pricing, they could get better pricing than any other vehicle or channel,? Mr. Orr said. ?That goes away.?

The Target of ebooks
Apple also may not have the best prices compared to Amazon for ebooks.

Amazon is likely to try to compete on price for ebook sales as the ebook category is very important to the company since it offers a complete line of products dedicated to reading books and consuming content on its devices.

Ebooks are not as important a category for Apple, which makes more money from apps than it does music yet, is largest music retailer in the country, per Mr. Howe.

Apple may decide to take a different tack in ebooks and compete on the merits of its brand and its installed base. Which could make sense since the iPad is a high-end device and price is not always the first consideration for users.

Instead, iPad users are looking for a great experience.

?They are not that big a bookseller at this point,? ABI Research?s Mr. Howe said. ?I think they are willing to let Amazon be the Walmart and I think they are going to try being a little more of the Target player - not necessarily the lowest price, but a better experience.

?What you are going to see is some media types are going to be cheaper on Amazon and some are going to be cheaper at Apple,? he said.

A boost for Kindle
The ruling could also have an impact on Apple if iPad users install the Kindle Reader app for iOS so they can get cheaper content.

This would take these users out of the iOS ecosystem and eat into its ebook sales while giving a boost to Kindle.

?On that same iPad, you can install an Amazon Kindle Reader app or a Barnes and Noble Nook app and you can get the exact same content at the exact same time for the same or better price,? Mr. Orr said.

?Apple has some work to do in explaining why should they be the facilitator for that,? he said.

?It certainly keeps Amazon in the spot light as a premier provider of digital books and other digital content. It is going to boost Kindle because the iPad is certainly a significant installed base of devices.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York