In August, for the second consecutive month, e-book sales jumped while sales in all print trade segments declined, according to AAP's monthly sales estimates. E-book sales for the 14 reporting companies rose 172.4%, to $39 million, while sales in all trade segments with the exception of juvenile hardcover fell by double digits as return rates skyrocketed. For the first eight months of 2010, e-book sales were $263 million, an increase of 192.9% over the same period in 2009, accounting for 9.0% of trade sales reported by AAP monthly sales participants. Downloadable audio grew more modestly in August, up 4.6%, to $6.3 million, while year-to-date digital audio sales from eight companies rose 28.8%, to $51 million. Sales of traditional audio were off in both the month and eight-month period.
| CATEGORY | % CHANGE Aug. | % CHANGE YTD |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Hard (17)* | -24.4% | 5.2% |
| Adult Paper (19) | -18.3 | 4.1 |
| Mass Market (9) | -21.9 | -14.3 |
| Juvenile Hard (14) | -8.0 | -14.6 |
| Juvenile Paper (14) | -15.1 | -7.6 |
| Audio (22) | -23.4 | -6.0 |
| Aud. Download (8) | 4.6 | 28.8 |
| Electronic (14) | 172.4 | 192.9 |
| Religious (18) | 0.4 | -0.3 |
| Higher Ed. (10) | 11.8 | 12.4 |
| Univ. Pr. Hard (34) | 10.2 | 5.4 |
| Univ. Pr. Paper (34) | 15.7 | 4.7 |
| Professional (8) | 14.5 | 10.7 |
| Elhi (9) | -4.9 | 8.0 |
(Measured in $ sales against same time periods, 2009)
* Number of reporting companies
