Ebooks finally surpassed the revenues of hardcovers in the first quarter of 2012. I wouldn't have though that it would be so soon. The AAP (Association of American Publishers) posted a report indicating that sales of adult ebooks (no children/young adult in this statistic) reached $282.3 million versus $229.6 million for adult hardcover sales. With hardcover cost being higher than the ebook format, the number of ebooks sold in that period must quite high but still, mass market paperback are at the top with $299.6 million.
Back in December 2010, 52% of the respondent of the poll I did on the blog said that they were not or would not read ebooks, mostly because of the loss of physical feeling...
Here's a wrap up of the growth:
"Total Trade net revenue grew by +27.1% vs January 2011. Growth was reflected across Adult, Children’s/Young Adult and Religious categories. While Children’s/Young Adult physical format Hardcover and Paperback both saw strong double-digit growth (68.9% and 61.9% respectively), AAP’s first monthly data on Children’s/YA eBooks showed a massive +475.1% increase from 2011 to 2012. Some publishers have attributed this to the availability of more options for devices aimed at those demographics as well as a number of popular new releases."
As far as they continue to print i am okay :P
ReplyDeleteIt's not like people don't play board games, because video games are out right?
What Yiota said. Personally, I buy too few books to make an e-reader worthwhile - my only purchases are with gift vouchers that I get for Christmas and birthdays (being out of work, books are a luxury). I try out via the library before I buy (too many bad purchases in the past) and the last time I checked, I couldn't borrow e-books at my local library so an e-reader wouldn't work for me.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Yiota. Physical books in general will undoubtedly ever become obsolete. That being said, things don't appear to bode very well for the bookstores that sell them...
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree, I think bookstores are really going to struggle with the Ebook revolution (as are traditional publishers unless they get on the ebook bandwagon). I love the feel of a real book but on the other hand there is a convenience to ebooks e.g. storing them on your phone so you can read them if you are stuck waiting for a ride or a meeting or something.
ReplyDeleteAnd Daddy Grognard, I'd keep an eye out, my library borrows out ebooks.. so it's only a matter of time before more and more libraries start doing it as well.