Random House ceo Markus Dohle’s year-end letter to employees acknowledges that the “year has been one difficult external and internal challenge after another,” including “the continuing decline in consumer spending, including on books; the pressures of the retail price wars in the U.S. and U.K.; wide-ranging digital-publishing issues; and our divisional reorganizations and integrations.” And “the outlook for 2010 is uncertain right now…with no sign that consumer confidence or discretionary spending will pick up.” The “great news” he shares is that “even with these challenges, Random House on a worldwide basis will improve its year-on-year profitability in 2009.” One could […]