Apple shipped an estimated 68% of all tablets in Q1 2012

"A steep drop in shipments of Android-based tablets offset a strong quarter from Apple and caused the media tablet market to miss projections for the first quarter of 2012 (1Q12), according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker. Total worldwide media tablet shipments for the quarter reached 17.4 million units in 1Q12, 1.2 million units below IDC's projection for the quarter. While IDC predicted a sharp seasonal slowdown of -34% from the previous quarter’s record-breaking 28.2 million units, the actual decline was slightly steeper at -38.4%. The total still represents a robust year-over-year growth rate of 120%, up from 7.9 million units in the first quarter of 2011.
"Apple reasserted its dominance in the market this quarter, driving huge shipment totals at a time when all but a few Android vendors saw their numbers drop precipitously after posting big gains during the holiday buying season," said Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices at IDC. "Apple's move to position the iPad as an all-purpose tablet, instead of just a content consumption device, is resonating with consumers as well as educational and commercial buyers. And its decision to keep a lower-priced iPad 2 in the market after it launched the new iPad in March seems to be paying off as well."
Apple shipped 11.8 million iPads during the quarter, down from 15.4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, and grew its worldwide share from 54.7% in 4Q11 to 68% in 1Q12. Amazon, which stormed into the market in 4Q11 to grab second place with 16.8% of the market on shipment of 4.8 million units, saw its share decline significantly in the first quarter to just over 4%, falling to third place as a result. Samsung took advantage of Amazon's weakness to regain the number two position while Lenovo vaulted into the number four spot, followed by Barnes & Noble at number five.
Although total Android shipments were down sharply in 1Q12, companies such as Samsung and Lenovo are beginning to gain traction in the market with their latest generation of Android products. IDC expects the segment to rebound quickly as other vendors introduce new products in the second quarter and beyond."

Source:  Data from IDC reported in a press release, 3rd May 2012

JK Rowling sold $1.6m worth of eBooks in the first 3 days on sale

"Harry Potter fan site Pottermore sold more than $1.59 million worth of ebooks in the first three days after the books became available, Pottermore CEO Charlie Redmayne said on a Radio Litopia show, “The Naked Book.”
The sales were “considerably higher than I expected,” said Redmayne.
The ebooks, which cost $8 to $11.10 ($61.70 for the entire collection), can only be bought at Pottermore. Digital versions of the highly popular series were originally slated for an October 2011 launch, but the date was delayed as Pottermore (which is still in beta) was struggling to cope with overwhelming user traffic."

Source:  Mashable, 5th April 2012

The iPad accounts for 88% of US tablet traffic

"Not all tablets generate the same click rate. Apple's iPad generates the majority of tablet traffic, with an 88% share, while Amazon's Fire managed to step in as a low-priced alternative, generating slightly more than 4% of tablet ad clicks in late December before dropping to 3.5% at the end of January.
The traffic from non-iPad tablets still comprises less than or around 1% of total traffic for most. In January, RKG estimates the traffic at 0.8%.
About 68.1 million tablet units shipped worldwide in 2011, up from about 19.6 million in 2010 worldwide, according to the IHS iSuppli Worldwide Tablet Market Tracker Q1 2012. The research firm estimates tablet manufacturers will ship an estimated 124 million units in 2012."

Source:  MediaPost, 8th February 2012

1.3m eReaders were gifted at Christmas in the UK - inc demographic breakdown

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Source:  Data from YouGov, reported in a press release, 4th January 2012

Amazon are selling more than 1m Kindle Fire tablets a week

"Amazon.com Inc., the world's largest online retailer, said customers have bought about 1 million of its Kindle e-book readers and tablets in each of the past three weeks, the most detailed sales numbers the company has released.
The Kindle Fire tablet, which sells for $199, has been the best-selling product on Amazon.com since its introduction 11 weeks ago, the Seattle-based company said in a statement today. Kindle Fire sales have risen week-over-week for the past three weeks, Amazon said."

Source: Bloomberg News, 16th December 2011

Frequency of using tablets, smartphones & eReaders while watching TV

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Source:  Research by Nielsen, reported on NielsenWire, 13th October 2011
Note - US only

The demographics of American Tablet & eReader users

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Source:  Data from Nielsen, reported in their blog, 25th August 2011

Ownership of eBook readers doubled in the US in the 6 months to May 2011

"The share of adults in the United States who own an e-book reader doubled to 12% in May, 2011  from 6% in November 2010.  E-readers, such as a Kindle or Nook, are portable devices designed to allow readers to download and read books and periodicals.  This is the first time since the Pew Internet Project began measuring e-reader use in April 2009 that ownership of this device has reached double digits among U.S. adults.
Tablet computers—portable devices similar to e-readers but designed for more interactive web functions—have not seen the same level of growth in recent months.  In May 2011, 8% of adults report owning a tablet computer such as an iPad, Samsung Galaxy or Motorola Xoom.  This is roughly the same percentage of adults who reported owning this kind of device in January 2011 (7%), and represents just a 3 percentage-point increase in ownership since November 2010.  Prior to that, tablet ownership had been climbing relatively quickly."

Source:  Report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 27th June 2011

Amazon is selling more Kindle versions of books in the US than hardback and paperback books combined

"Amazon began selling hardcover and paperback books in July 1995. Twelve years later in November 2007, Amazon introduced the revolutionary Kindle and began selling Kindle books. By July 2010, Kindle book sales had surpassed hardcover book sales, and six months later, Kindle books overtook paperback books to become the most popular format on Amazon.com. Today, less than four years after introducing Kindle books, Amazon.com customers are now purchasing more Kindle books than all print books - hardcover and paperback - combined.
"Customers are now choosing Kindle books more often than print books. We had high hopes that this would happen eventually, but we never imagined it would happen this quickly - we've been selling print books for 15 years and Kindle books for less than four years," said Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO, Amazon.com. "In addition, we're excited by the response to Kindle with Special Offers for only $114, which has quickly become the bestselling member of the Kindle family. We continue to receive positive comments from customers on the low $114 price and the money-saving special offers. We're grateful to our customers for continuing to make Kindle the bestselling e-reader in the world and the Kindle Store the most popular e-bookstore in the world."
Recent milestones for Kindle include:
Since April 1, for every 100 print books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 105 Kindle books. This includes sales of hardcover and paperback books by Amazon where there is no Kindle edition. Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the number even higher.
So far in 2011, the tremendous growth of Kindle book sales, combined with the continued growth in Amazon's print book sales, have resulted in the fastest year-over-year growth rate for Amazon's U.S. books business, in both units and dollars, in over 10 years. This includes books in all formats, print and digital. Free books are excluded in the calculation of growth rates.
In the five weeks since its introduction, Kindle with Special Offers for only $114 is already the bestselling member of the Kindle family in the U.S.
Amazon sold more than 3x as many Kindle books so far in 2011 as it did during the same period in 2010.
Less than one year after introducing the UK Kindle Store, Amazon.co.uk is now selling more Kindle books than hardcover books, even as hardcover sales continue to grow. Since April 1, Amazon.co.uk customers are purchasing Kindle books over hardcover books at a rate of more than 2 to 1."

Source:  Press release from Amazon, 19th May 2011

eBooks are easily outselling hardbacks in the UK

"In the UK, Amazon announced it had sold 242 ebooks for every 100 hardbacks since 1 April 2011. "Amazon.co.uk customers are choosing Kindle books more often than hardcovers at a rate of more than 2 to 1," said Gordon Willoughby, European director at Kindle. "This is truly astonishing when you consider that we've been selling hardcover books from Amazon.co.uk for over 13 years and Kindle books for only nine months."
A spokesman for Amazon.co.uk said the figures included sales of hardback books where no Kindle edition was available, and did not include free Kindle downloads. He said the website was not publishing comparisons between paperback sales and ebook downloads.
The UK figures represent a quicker uptake of Kindle ebooks than Amazon saw in the US, although John Howells, spokesman for Waterstone's, said its own Waterstones.com ebook sales had outstripped hardbacks for "quite a while".
"For every hardback we sell online, we sell four ebooks online," Howells said. "It doesn't really surprise us as we've been quite established as ebook sellers for some two and a half years now.""
Source:  The Guardian, 19th May 2011

Ebooks are the best selling category of books in America

"Ebooks have become the single bestselling category in American publishing for the first time, according to new data released yesterday.
The latest report from the Association of American Publishers, compiling sales data from US publishing houses, shows that total ebook sales in February were $90.3m (£55.2m). This makes digital books the largest single format in the US for the first time ever, the AAP said, overtaking paperbacks at $81.2m. In January, ebooks were the second-largest category, behind paperbacks.
America's ebooks enjoyed a 202.3% growth in sales in February compared with the same month the previous year, the book trade association revealed. Print books fared much worse by contrast, with the combined category of adult hardback and paperback books falling 34.4% to $156.8m in February. The children and young adult category of print books fell 16.1% to $58.5m.
The AAP attributed the growth in February to "a high level of strong post-holiday ebook buying" from readers given ereader devices for Christmas, with the greater selection of devices and the broader range of ebooks now available also playing a part in the increase."

Source:  The Guardian, 15th April 2011

E-book sales more than doubled in the US Y-o-Y in January 2011

"E-books and downloadable audio books continue to grow in popularity according to the January 2011 sales report of the Association of American Publishers. Figures for the first month of the new year show that E-book net sales increased by 115.8% vs January 2010 (from $32.4 Million to $69.9M). Sales of Downloadable Audio Books also rose by 8.8% vs the previous year ($6.0M to $6.5M). As AAP reported last month in its December 2010 monthly report and full 2010 analysis, E-book sales have increased annually and significantly in all nine years of tracking the category."
Source:  Press release from the AAP, reported by Engadget, 20th March 2011

Amazon.com sells more Kindle books than paperback books

""Thanks to our customers, we achieved two big milestones," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "We had our first $10 billion quarter, and after selling millions of third-generation Kindles with the new Pearl e-ink display during the quarter, Kindle books have now overtaken paperback books as the most popular format on Amazon.com. Last July we announced that Kindle books had passed hardcovers and predicted that Kindle would surpass paperbacks in the second quarter of this year, so this milestone has come even sooner than we expected - and it's on top of continued growth in paperback sales.""

Source:  Amazon press release, 27th January 2011

iPad demographics vs. Kindle demographics (US data)

"Apple iPad users are younger and more of them are male than those of other connected devices
- 65% are male, 63% are under the age of 35
- Kindle users: 52% male, 47% under the age of 35
- Amazon Kindle users are slightly wealthier, better educated
- 28% have incomes of $100k or more, 57% have a bachelors degree or higher
- Pad users: 25% have incomes of $100k or more, 51% have a bachelors degree or higher"
Source:  The Increasingly Connected Consumer: Connected Devices, The Nielsen Company, October 2010 (pdf)

Kindle versions of books are outselling print editions (hardback and paperback) for the top 1000 best sellers on Amazon in the US

"Kindle book unit sales continue to overtake print on Amazon.com, even while print book sales continue to grow. During the past 30 days, Amazon.com customers purchased more Kindle books than print books--hardcover and paperback combined--for the top 10, 25, 100, and 1,000 bestselling books on Amazon.com.
"For the top 10 bestselling books on Amazon.com, customers are choosing Kindle books over hardcover and paperback books combined at a rate of greater than 2 to 1. Kindle books are also outselling print books for the top 25, 100, and 1,000 bestsellers--it's across the board," said Kessel. "This is remarkable when you consider that we've been selling hardcover and paperback books for 15 years, and Kindle books for just 36 months."
Other recent milestones for Kindle include:
- In the 12 weeks following the introduction of the new generation Kindles, Kindle devices or Kindle-related items such as Kindle books and covers represented 15 of the top 15 bestselling items on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk combined.
- Amazon sold more than 3 times as many Kindle books in the first nine months of 2010 as in the first nine months of 2009.
- The Association of American Publishers' latest data reports that e-book sales grew 193 percent between January and August 2010. Kindle book sales growth during the same period exceeded this rate."

Source:  Press release from Amazon, 25th October 2010

60% of eBook reader owners cite online connectivity as their favourite feature of the device

"60% of e-reader owners cite it as their favorite feature
49% of smartphone owners indicate high-speed internet as a motivating purchase factor
38% of all Blu-ray owners indicate internet connectivity is important or very important feature"
Source:  The Connected Experience: Building a Bridge Between Devices & Content, NPD, September 2010

The most common device used for reading a digital book inthe US is a PC

"Roughly 2% of American book buyers over age 13 are active ebook users, meaning they obtained an ebook or a reader device in the last year. About half of those were first-time ebook buyers, so the usage of ebooks has probably roughly doubled in the last year. BISG is doing multiple waves in the survey, and says it found a 25% increase in ebook usage just over the holiday season, so it was a pretty good Christmas (and Hanukkah) for ebooks.
The most-used device for reading an ebook is a personal computer (47%); Amazon Kindle is number two (32%), followed by Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch (21%)."
Source:  Consumer Attitudes toward E-Book Reading Report, by the Book Industry Study Group, reported by the Digital Book World blog, 25th February 2010

Amazon claims to have 70-80% of the US digital books market

"[Ian] Freed: [...] The American Association of Publishers has said that e-books have grown at about 200 percent year over year. Our sales are growing faster than that, so you can back into what that means in terms of segment share.
CNET: Well, Apple's saying it's got 20 percent market share and I've heard Barnes & Noble saying it's got 20 percent as well, so that would leave you guys with...
Freed: Honestly, something doesn't add up because we're pretty sure we're 70 to 80 percent of the market. So, something, somewhere isn't quite working right. I encourage you to do some more research. Obviously, from the beginning of Amazon we've been very metrics-focused and we don't typically throw out numbers we don't firmly believe in. Take that 70 to 80 percent number and add up all the others and something somewhere isn't going to add up."
Source:  Ian Freed of Amazon, interviewed by CNET, 2nd August 2010

Amazon sells nearly twice as many digital books as hardback books

"It is an announcement that will provoke horror among those who can think of nothing better than spending an afternoon rummaging around a musty old bookshop. In what could be a watershed for the publishing industry, Amazon said sales of digital books have outstripped US sales of hardbacks on its website for the first time.
Amazon claims to have sold 143 digital books for its e-reader, the Kindle, for every 100 hardback books over the past three months. The pace of change is also accelerating. Amazon said that in the most recent four weeks, the rate reached 180 ebooks for every 100 hardbacks sold. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, said sales of the Kindle and ebooks had reached a "tipping point", with five authors including Steig Larsson, the writer of Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, and Stephenie Meyer, who penned the Twilight series, each selling more than 500,000 digital books. Earlier this month, Hachette said that James Patterson had sold 1.1m ebooks to date."
Source: The Guardian, 20th July 2010

Publisher Hachette made approximately 5% of its US revenues from eBooks in 2009

"In the United States, which posted double-digit growth to end September, sales fell by about 20% in the final quarter. During 2008, the Stephenie Meyer saga (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn) was a huge success, selling over 28 million copies, including 8 million in December alone. Consequently, the drop in Stephenie Meyer sales depressed revenue growth in the final part of 2009, with the impact only partly cushioned by the success of books by Edward Kennedy (True Compass), Uwem Akpan (Say You're One of Them) and Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers and What the Dog Saw). U.S. sales of e-books increased sharply during the year, reaching around 5% of total revenues in December."
Source: Press release from Lagardere, 11th February 2010
Note: "Lagardère Publishing is composed of prestigious brands including Grasset, Larousse and Hatier in France, Anaya in Spain, and Little, Brown and Company and Grand Central Publishing (Hachette Book Group) in the United States." (Source)