While the introduction of a bevy of new e-reading devices could change the state of the e-book market, a just released study by the Book Industry Study Group provides an analysis of current market conditions. What the report, “Consumer Attitudes Toward E-Book Reading,” shows is that newcomers to the field will face a formidable competitor in Amazon. Although the most popular way consumers currently read e-books is on a desktop or laptop computer, the Kindle was by far the most popular dedicated e-reader, with 28% of respondents saying that they used that format. In addition, Amazon owns the most popular e-bookstore, with 48% of e-book buyers reporting that they bought an e-book from Amazon. Eighteen percent of consumers said they bought an e-book at Barnes & Noble.com, the same percentage that reported buying e-books at a variety of smaller sites.
The study also shows that while e-books still represent less than 2% of all books bought, e-books are strongly winning over the readers who buy them. Among consumers who read e-books, 19% said they exclusively buy e-books, and another 25% said they now buy mostly e-books and have cut back on purchases of print books.
For more on the study, go to bisg.org.
