The UK market may still not be quite so saturated with ebook readers as the US (probably because we couldn’t buy Kindles here until recently!). But it is definitely following the same trend. 2011 looks set to be the year of the ebook.
Amazon have already reported that this year sales of its Kindle books which may be used on both the device itself, and Kindle applications downloaded free for computers, smart phones and tablets, have over-taken paperback sales. This is a real taste of things to come and shows a significant shift, with ebooks fast becoming the “norm” rather than something a little unusual. In the US already around 15% of book sales are for electronic books.
Bloomsbury have shown sales of ebooks rise by 18 times, now accounting for over 10% of their overall figures. Not bad for something originally seen as a bit of a gimmick.
There is a noticeable change too in who is buying the Kindle and other Ebook Readers in the UK. Whilst the original adopters were those in their 50′s keen to use new technology that has a significant selling point to older eyes (change font sizes anyone?), the market is growing younger. And, with many customers saying that having books handy more of the time, is meaning they read more, this cannot be a bad thing at all.
So how is Kindle holding up in the scrum for sales amid the plethora of sexy tablet PCs? Well pretty good, probably because it has such a low price tag, and though not as desirable perhaps as an iPad, it is far better for reading on!
Silver Poll conducted a survey of 4000 people in Januray 2011 (2000 aged under fifty and 2000 aged over 50). The results show a marked change. Still the older generation are ebook reader fans, but younger customers are getting in on the act too. 6% of over 55′s owned an ebook reader, with 5% of those aged 18 to 24 owning one too. But which type of ebook reader is more popular within each age group is not distinguished. What we do know is that of the ebook readers owned in the poll, nearly half (47%) were Kindles, compared with 31% being iPads and only 14% Sony ebook readers.
The Kindle UK is still one hot product and looks set to stay that way for 2011.
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