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fjtorres · 03-07-2017, 08:00 AM

The latest Author Earnings report is out and for the new release they are focusing on ebook sales in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Fifteen ebook stores tracked.

As usual, lots of charts, tables, and insights at the source. Highly recommended.

http://authorearnings.com/report/february-2017/

In the meantime, here's some highlights.

First, the context:

...............Population.........PBook Sales......Ebook Sales....Ebooks sales%
U.S.A.·......325,700,000....675,000,000.....487,29 8,000...........42%
U.K.·...........65,400,000....187,500,000.......95 ,623,000..........34%
Canada.......36,500,000.......50,500,000.......26, 017,000.........34%
Australia.....24,500,000........56,400,000......22 ,463,000.........28%
New Zealand 4,600,000..........5,300,000......1,306,000*...... ...20%*

Total: 456,700,000 974,700,000 632,707,000 39%

* No local Kindle bookstore in NZ - sales go through Amazon.com U.S.A.

Unit sales by ebookstore, per country:

....................Amazon.............Apple...... .........Kobo...............Nook

U.S.A.·......406,000,000.....44,041,000.......1,24 6,000......19,395,000
U.K.·...........84,029,000......7,201,000.......1, 132,000...........–
Canada.......14,892,000.......3,760,000.......6,47 9,000...........–
Australia.....13,604,000.......6,694,000.......1,3 99,000...........–
New Zealand........*...............831,000..........41 6,000...........–
Total:........518,526,000.....62,527,000......10,6 72,000.......19,395,000
% of Total:.......82%..............10%................2 %..................3%

Highlights:

Unsurprisingly, Amazon is the majority retailer in just about every market.
But in Canada and Australia, Amazon is a lot less dominant than in the US and the UK.
Taken all together, Amazon accounts for more than 80% of English-language ebook purchases, Apple another 10%, Kobo 2% and Nook 3%
The remaining 3%–ascribed to GooglePlay and all remaining channels–is most likely overly optimistic. Their true share might well be even lower.
Self-published indie authors are verifiably capturing at least 24% – 34% of all ebook sales in each of the five English-language markets; it’s not just a US-only phenomenon. When you also include the uncategorized authors, the vast majority of whom are also self-published, the true indie share in each market lies somewhere between 30% – 40%.
Indies are competing particularly well in the Canadian and Australian ebook markets, nearly approaching the level of dominance they currently hold in the US.
The Big Five, on the other hand, are letting themselves progressively get squeezed out of nearly every English-Language ebook market. They make up only 38% of Canadian ebook purchases, and that’s the country where they are holding their ground best; in the US, the Big Five now account for barely 26% of all ebook sales.
Amazon Imprints have made the most market headway in the US. Despite being single-retailer exclusive to Amazon Kindle, the dozen or so Amazon “house” publishing imprints between them account for 14% of all US ebook sales, 10% of all UK ebook sales, and 8% of Australian ebook sales. In Canada, the Amazon Imprint footprint is a much more modest 3% of all ebook sales, largely due to the substantial shares of the overall Canadian ebook market held by Kobo (25%) and Apple (14%).

For the US market specifically:

Between early 2016 and early 2017, overall Amazon US ebook sales grew another 4%. While that’s not the kind of double-digit (or triple-digit) growth we had seen in the earlier days of the ebook era, it’s still more than enough to offset the ongoing shrinkage at Barnes&Noble’s Nook. In other words, albeit slowly now, the overall US ebook market is still growing.
Indie ebook market share, after the sudden sharp drop that we reported in October 2016, seems to have bounced back a little in early 2017. It’s too early to conclude whether this is simply a plateau or the beginnings of a new phase in indie market share growth. We’ll be curious to see which direction things head as we move deeper into 2017.
Amazon Imprints’ market share continues its steady climb. Amazon Publishing’s growing share of all Amazon ebook sales is a fascinating, and somewhat unsettling, trend to watch.
Big Five ebook market share, on the other hand, after a brief flirtation with recovery in October 2016, has fallen precipitously once again in early 2017, to just 20.8%.
As of February, titles published by the Big Five made up just 20.8%–or barely one fifth–of all Amazon US consumer ebook purchases.
“Small/Medium Traditional Publishers,” as a cohort, have continued their slow, steady climb in unit market share, but their share of total consumer $ dollars spent on ebooks is rising far faster. In fact, per the below trend graph charting the shift in consumer $ spending, we can see that for the first time “Small/Medium Traditional Publishers” are capturing more total consumer dollars than the Big Five.
Self-published indie authors are verifiably capturing at least 20% – 35% of all multi-country ebook sales at each retailer. When you also include the uncategorized authors, each retailer’s true multi-country indie share lies somewhere between 25% – 42%, with Amazon staking out the high end at 42% and B&N and Apple holding the low end at 25%.
The Big Five have managed to hang on to more than half of all ebook sales at Apple and Barnes & Noble Nook. At B&N, in particular, their share tops 61%, but that merely makes them the largest fish in a rapidly-shrinking pond. (B&N’s overall ebook sales have contracted dramatically over the past few years, to where they are now make up less than 4% of the US total (or 3% of the five-country total)).

Much more at the source including pretty pictures detailing just how big Kindle Unlimited is. Highly recommended.

03-07-2017, 08:00 AM	#1
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	Author Earnings goes international The latest Author Earnings report is out and for the new release they are focusing on ebook sales in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Fifteen ebook stores tracked. As usual, lots of charts, tables, and insights at the source. Highly recommended. http://authorearnings.com/report/february-2017/ In the meantime, here's some highlights. First, the context: ...............Population.........PBook Sales......Ebook Sales....Ebooks sales% U.S.A.·......325,700,000....675,000,000.....487,29 8,000...........42% U.K.·...........65,400,000....187,500,000.......95 ,623,000..........34% Canada.......36,500,000.......50,500,000.......26, 017,000.........34% Australia.....24,500,000........56,400,000......22 ,463,000.........28% New Zealand 4,600,000..........5,300,000......1,306,000...... ...20% Total: 456,700,000 974,700,000 632,707,000 39% * No local Kindle bookstore in NZ - sales go through Amazon.com U.S.A. Unit sales by ebookstore, per country: ....................Amazon.............Apple...... .........Kobo...............Nook U.S.A.·......406,000,000.....44,041,000.......1,24 6,000......19,395,000 U.K.·...........84,029,000......7,201,000.......1, 132,000...........– Canada.......14,892,000.......3,760,000.......6,47 9,000...........– Australia.....13,604,000.......6,694,000.......1,3 99,000...........– New Zealand.......................831,000..........41 6,000...........– Total:........518,526,000.....62,527,000......10,6 72,000.......19,395,000 % of Total:.......82%..............10%................2 %..................3% Highlights:* Unsurprisingly, Amazon is the majority retailer in just about every market. But in Canada and Australia, Amazon is a lot less dominant than in the US and the UK. Taken all together, Amazon accounts for more than 80% of English-language ebook purchases, Apple another 10%, Kobo 2% and Nook 3% The remaining 3%–ascribed to GooglePlay and all remaining channels–is most likely overly optimistic. Their true share might well be even lower. Self-published indie authors are verifiably capturing at least 24% – 34% of all ebook sales in each of the five English-language markets; it’s not just a US-only phenomenon. When you also include the uncategorized authors, the vast majority of whom are also self-published, the true indie share in each market lies somewhere between 30% – 40%. Indies are competing particularly well in the Canadian and Australian ebook markets, nearly approaching the level of dominance they currently hold in the US. The Big Five, on the other hand, are letting themselves progressively get squeezed out of nearly every English-Language ebook market. They make up only 38% of Canadian ebook purchases, and that’s the country where they are holding their ground best; in the US, the Big Five now account for barely 26% of all ebook sales. Amazon Imprints have made the most market headway in the US. Despite being single-retailer exclusive to Amazon Kindle, the dozen or so Amazon “house” publishing imprints between them account for 14% of all US ebook sales, 10% of all UK ebook sales, and 8% of Australian ebook sales. In Canada, the Amazon Imprint footprint is a much more modest 3% of all ebook sales, largely due to the substantial shares of the overall Canadian ebook market held by Kobo (25%) and Apple (14%). For the US market specifically: Between early 2016 and early 2017, overall Amazon US ebook sales grew another 4%. While that’s not the kind of double-digit (or triple-digit) growth we had seen in the earlier days of the ebook era, it’s still more than enough to offset the ongoing shrinkage at Barnes&Noble’s Nook. In other words, albeit slowly now, the overall US ebook market is still growing. Indie ebook market share, after the sudden sharp drop that we reported in October 2016, seems to have bounced back a little in early 2017. It’s too early to conclude whether this is simply a plateau or the beginnings of a new phase in indie market share growth. We’ll be curious to see which direction things head as we move deeper into 2017. Amazon Imprints’ market share continues its steady climb. Amazon Publishing’s growing share of all Amazon ebook sales is a fascinating, and somewhat unsettling, trend to watch. Big Five ebook market share, on the other hand, after a brief flirtation with recovery in October 2016, has fallen precipitously once again in early 2017, to just 20.8%. As of February, titles published by the Big Five made up just 20.8%–or barely one fifth–of all Amazon US consumer ebook purchases. “Small/Medium Traditional Publishers,” as a cohort, have continued their slow, steady climb in unit market share, but their share of total consumer $ dollars spent on ebooks is rising far faster. In fact, per the below trend graph charting the shift in consumer $ spending, we can see that for the first time “Small/Medium Traditional Publishers” are capturing more total consumer dollars than the Big Five. Self-published indie authors are verifiably capturing at least 20% – 35% of all multi-country ebook sales at each retailer. When you also include the uncategorized authors, each retailer’s true multi-country indie share lies somewhere between 25% – 42%, with Amazon staking out the high end at 42% and B&N and Apple holding the low end at 25%. The Big Five have managed to hang on to more than half of all ebook sales at Apple and Barnes & Noble Nook. At B&N, in particular, their share tops 61%, but that merely makes them the largest fish in a rapidly-shrinking pond. (B&N’s overall ebook sales have contracted dramatically over the past few years, to where they are now make up less than 4% of the US total (or 3% of the five-country total)). Much more at the source including pretty pictures detailing just how big Kindle Unlimited is. Highly recommended. Last edited by fjtorres; 03-07-2017 at 09:50 AM. Reason: Duh. Link to source.