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By January 2013, Kobo claimed to own 20 percent of theglobal ereader device market (Press release, 13 January2013). 2013 has since seen two launches of new devices,in spring and in summer, which included both ereadersand tablets. (Publishers Weekly, 28 August 2013).Other than several of its competitors, Kobo has engagedin several strategic partnerships, including with Hongkongbased Cheung Kong Holdings, W H Smith in Great Britain,Whitcoulls in New Zealand, FNAC in France, and LivrariaCultura in Brazil. In many markets, Kobo is partnering withlocal retailers, aside from those mentioned, with Libris BLZin the Netherlands, Libreka in Germany, and Mondadori inItaly. In Japan, it started to develop an ebook userbaseahead of Amazon, in summer 2012 (The Bookseller, 16 August2012).For the US, and later on also in other markets, Kobo positioneditself as an ebook partner for independent bookstores,signing respective agreements with associations(ABA in the US, and the British AB), and replacing Googlein that position.In summer 2012, Kobo also kickstarted a self-publishingportal, branded as “Kobo Writing Life”.101 The Global eBook Report