Apple Inc. fans should have something new to cheer this week, but it's not likely to be the latest iPad or a TV.
While the notoriously secretive Apple remains mum about its education announcement Thursday at New York's Guggenheim museum, observers aren't expecting a new gadget. Instead, the company is expected to unveil textbooks optimized for the iPad and that feature ways to interact with the content, as well as partnerships with publishers.
When Apple introduced the iPad a couple of years ago, one of the product's promises was that it could change the classroom experience. Founder Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson that he wanted to transform the textbook industry by hiring writers to create digital versions and making them a feature of the iPad.
Mr. Jobs, who reportedly had been meeting with publishers such as Pearson PLC, believed all books should be "digital and interactive, tailored to each student and providing feedback in real time," according to Mr. Isaacson's book.
"Who better than Apple to revolutionize textbooks?" said International Data Corp. analyst Al Hilwa. "Everyone, including the industry and universities, have to come together, and this is the kind of thing Apple does really well."
The event this week will be the first hosted by the company since Mr. Jobs died in October. Apple typically holds launches closer to home in Silicon Valley, but New York is viewed as the hub for many major publishers. Expected to attend is Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services, who oversees iTunes, the App Store, iBookstore, iAd and iCloud.
While the textbook industry is ripe for innovation, it already is a crowded market and has been tough for changes to occur. Many publishers and education companies are working on digitizing content, and Kindle maker Amazon.com Inc. also has been pursuing the market.
Bill Goodwyn, chief executive of Discovery Communications Inc.'s education unit, noted the digital textbook is one of the fastest-growing areas at Discovery, and he expects Apple's education push to accelerate the market.
"We're asking kids to get engaged and excited, yet the tools that the teachers had didn't offer that," he said, adding that he met with Apple last year to discuss its vision for the textbook industry. Discovery's education unit provides a digital textbook, dubbed the Techbook, for elementary-school science classes.
"Apple is a very disruptive force, and in education, that's a good thing," Mr. Goodwyn added.
Apple already has made a push into book publishing, launching its iBookstore. And the company has long been active in the education market, with its products used in many classrooms and by offering discounts to teachers and students. It also provides lectures, lessons and other educational content through its iTunes U.
The announcement Thursday could have a broad impact. Dr. Rob Reynolds, director of MBS Direct Digital, estimates only about 6% of education-textbook sales will be digital this year, up from 3% in 2011. But by 2020, digital textbooks and learning content will represent more than 50% of the overall textbook market, he said.
McGraw-Hill Cos., Pearson and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are among the education-publishing companies most likely affected by an Apple textbook announcement. The companies have experimented with interactive approaches, such as allowing students to take quizzes as they read and hear audio for foreign-language study, but many digital textbooks have looked a lot like their physical counterparts.
McGraw-Hill has been working with Apple on its announcement since June, a person familiar with the matter said. It wasn't known whether Pearson and Houghton Mifflin also would participate.
Cengage Learning, one of the world's largest higher-education textbook publishers, has partnered with Apple in the past and will be attending the event. The company declined to say what its role is in Apple's announcement this week.
"Apple today clearly has a strong position in hardware, and companies like Cengage Learning have a very strong position on the content side," said Bill Rieders, Cengage executive vice president of global strategy and business development. "To the extent there's a combination there, that could be exciting."
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