E-book retailer Kobo reports 98% growth in first quarter revenue across its device and content sales. Kobo also grew is costumer base by 2.5 million readers, bringing total Kobo registered users to nearly 15 million and the recently released Kobo Aura HD, a $170 high resolution dedicated e-reader, accounted for 27% of all Kobo devices sold at retail.
Kobo also reports that it has increased its inventory of titles by more than 500,000 in 2013 and sells books in 190 countries in 68 languages. In addition, Kobo Writing Life, the company’s self-publishing platform, offers more than 100,000 titles and accounts for up to 10% of overall Kobo unit sales.
Kobo’s network of independent retailers that sell Kobo devices numbers more than 17,600 retailers and includes the ABA, Booksellers Association of the U.K. and the New Zealand Booksellers Association. Kobo claims to sell up to 50% of the e-books in its home country of Canada and up to 20% of e-books sales in France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil.
