Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew H.
Oh, I'm sure the reason is largely because most iPad readers don't read....
Most people who read at all read 1-2 books a year. These people may be happy to read on their iPad (bought for other reasons), but would never have considered buying a dedicated e-reader. These people reading on the iPad will have no effect on Kindle sales.
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Numbers say otherwise (see
Apple iPad Torching Amazon’s Kindle; see also
here): through November the iPad cut 15% off the Kindle's marketshare.76% of iPad owners read novels (plus far more newspapers and magazines than Kindlers), and of those considering an ereader, the iPad outpoints the Kindle 42 to 33%.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew H.
E-books owners seem to concentrated in the 10-15% of the population who reads 10 or more books per year. It is when the iPad becomes "good enough" for those individuals that Kindles, etc. will start to lose sales.
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If you define "e-book owners" as anyone who owns at least one e-book then again the numbers disagree with you. With 76% of iPad owners reading novels on their iPads, that's an awful lot of e-book ownership happening on non-dedicated devices. Yes, the iPad has already cut heavily into the Kindle market.
Now the ChangeWave survey came out in November, so it's a bit dated. I'd love to see updated numbers, but haven't found any. Have you?
And, by the way, once I make the switch to a tablet, I will probably shelve my ereader. While I prefer the eink screen for serious reading, I'm not at all discomfited by reading on an LCD, and I see no compelling reason to carry two devices. My wife, conversely, after spending time with my ereader, chose an iPad precisely because of the higher contrast an LCD display offers (and because she reads a lot of magazines). So that's two people dedicated ereaders have lost to tablets. And the ChangeWave survey suggests we're far from alone.
--Nathanael