Apple Downplays Role Of “Kindle Threat” In Alleged e-Book Conspiracy

A court filing provides new insight into Apple’s version of events concerning an incident in which Steve Jobs told a reporter that “unhappy” publishers might withhold e-books from Amazon. According to Apple, lawyers “mischaracterized” the exchange and Jobs simply meant to say that his company had a different strategy when he claimed “Amazon screwed it up.”

The new details are set out in Apple’s request last week to throw out a class action suit in which the company is accused of conspiring with publishers to fix the price of e-books. In its filing, Apple argues that its business plan was to sell as many e-books as possible and that it had no incentive to raise prices. It also claims that is was a new and inexperienced player in a business in which Amazon dominated with 90 percent market share.