are eink devices a niche product?

[John F]

Reading another thread, this quote got me to wondering:

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

... Eink devices have always been a niche product among those used to read ebooks (mostly phones and tablets). ...

I can see how eink reaers are niche in terms of sale numbers, but are eink readers really niche in terms of quantity of ebook content read (and by "ebook", I am not referring to PDFs or internet reading/browsing)?

I wonder about this because I see many posts on MR prefering eink to LCD. I know there are a lot of tablets, but how does that balance with what "heavy" readers are using.

As a gross example: 1) let's say that there are 10 million tablets sold, and each tablet user reads 10 ebooks a year. 2) let's say there are 1 million eink devices out there, and each eink reader user reads 100 books a year. 3) I wouldn't call this a niche.

Are there any numbers available on ebook/readering habits that point to eink devices being niche?

Thanks.

P.S. I started a new thread because I didn't want to sidetrack the other thread.

[HarryT]

I have no figures to back it up, but I suspect that the ratio of phones and tablet sales (ie LCD devices on which one can read) to eink device sales is way, WAY higher than the 10:1 you suggest. Perhaps even as much as 100:1.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I have no figures to back it up, but I suspect that the ratio of phones and tablet sales (ie LCD devices on which one can read) to eink device sales is way, WAY higher than the 10:1 you suggest. Perhaps even as much as 100:1.

A quick Google search led me nowhere.
I suspect your ratio is off too.
If we are counting both tablets and smartphones, I would venture a guess at 250:1. I know way more people that have smart phones than have ereaders.

However, that data is skewed. Where the data gets off is most people that have smartphones do not buy ereaders. Most people that buy tablets don't buy ereaders. But most people that buy ereaders also have smartphones, tablets or both.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

However, that data is skewed. Where the data gets off is most people that have smartphones do not buy ereaders. Most people that buy tablets don't buy ereaders. But most people that buy ereaders also have smartphones, tablets or both.

If the ratio is as high as you suggest, though, the fact that the small number of people who buy readers also buy tablets and smartphones isn't going to significantly change the ratio.

Eg if 1 million people buy a reader, and 200 million buy a phone or tablet, that 1 million who also buy a phone or tablet represents less than half a percent of phone and tablet buyers.

[John F]

I'm much less interested in the ratio of devices, and much more interested in the amount of ebook content consumed by device type.

Please try to steer the discussion in that direction. Thank you.

[HarryT]

The two are of course related, John. If there are 250 tablet buyers reading a book a year for every reader buyer reading 50 books a year, 5 out of every 6 books would be read on tablets.

Of course all this is pure speculation, because we don't know the figures, but I'm absolutely certain that the overwhelming majority of books are read on tablets and phones, not eink readers.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If the ratio is as high as you suggest, though, the fact that the small number of people who buy readers also buy tablets and smartphones isn't going to significantly change the ratio.

Eg if 1 million people buy a reader, and 200 million buy a phone or tablet, that 1 million who also buy a phone or tablet represents less than half a percent of phone and tablet buyers.

HarryT,
I think both of us are way off.
As of October 2015, 773 million I phones had been sold.
See link.
http://ipod.about.com/od/glossary/f/...hones-sold.htm
And at least 300 million iPads.
http://www.statista.com/statistics/2...since-q3-2010/
As of September 2015, there were 1.4 billion active android devices.
http://www.androidcentral.com/google...ices-worldwide
According to the digital reader: Amazon sold 5.2 million fires in the 4th quarter of last year. (Sorry can't find a cumulative total)
http://the-digital-reader.com/2016/0...t-sales-boost/

Now for fun going to try to find kobo and kindle ereader sales.
Roughly 43.7 million through the end of 2013 on kindle sales.
Most recent data I could find.
Forbes › greatspeculations › 2014/04/02
Apr 2, 2014 - The annual sales for Kindle e-reader peaked in 2011 to roughly 13.44 million, followed by a decline in 2012 when the figure totaled an estimated 9.68 million. The sales in 2013 were more or less flat, which suggests that roughly 43.7 million Kindle devices had been cumulatively sold till the end of 2013.
Not that I trust this guy but it says 12 million ereaders were sold in 2014.
http://goodereader.com/blog/electron...dustry-in-2015

Since I am too lazy to do the actual calculation, it looks like
2 billion tablets and smart phones to roughly 75 million ereaders.

Here are some figures.

[Cinisajoy]

Even at John's guess of 1:10 books read, that is still way more on tablets and smartphones.

And in answer to the title:
Even though the numbers are in the millions, yes an ereader is very much a niche product.

[latepaul]

To really answer the question in the OP, rather than just speculate, we need figures for the numbers of devices AND the ebook buying habits of owners of different devices.

If Amazon were to release a breakdown of how many it ebooks it sells by number and type of device register it would be very enlightening.

But they won't, so it's pretty much all speculation.

[HarryT]

I honestly don't think there's a shred of doubt that only a minority - and a small minority - of books are read on eink devices. Even though we don't know the figures, the number of phone and tablet sales is so overwhelmingly higher than reader sales.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by John F

I'm much less interested in the ratio of devices, and much more interested in the amount of ebook content consumed by device type.

Please try to steer the discussion in that direction. Thank you.

A few years back B&N reported on their user accounts (after their quarterly financials, when they announced they were getting out of tablets) and they said that something like 80% of their ebook sales were to people who owned ereaders.

1- Haven't found the report online so I'm going off memory there. Might be 75%. Might be higher.

2- That was B&N but Kobo has made similar reports.

3- Kindle may be different. There apps are broadly deployed and used.

Looking at hardware sales isn't going to be too illuminating because people use more than one device to read, buy on one device and read on another, or only buy/read ebooks occasionally/sporadically.

A more meaningful measure would be number of active accounts and even that can mislead because a fair amount of people buy from more than one walled garden.

Another approach is to work backwards, from the reported total number of ebook readers (around 25% of the US population) and the fraction of those reading enough ebooks a year to justify buying an ereader.

Or, you could look at the total number of ebooks sold and divide by 10, 20, or 30 to get a number of "avid reader equivalents".

No matter how you slice it, you get numbers in the tens of millions and not hundreds of millions. Or billions.

It's niche but a big one.

[HarryT]

I'm on track to read about 130 books this year, every one of which is bought (I don't borrow books). And that's in a world in which the CEO of Britain's largest bookstore, Waterstone's, defines a "heavy reader" to be someone who reads a book a month. We here at MR are at the extreme end of the bell curve of readers. We shouldn't take our own reading experiences to be remotely representative of the "real world". We're freaks .

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm on track to read about 130 books this year, every one of which is bought (I don't borrow books). And that's in a world in which the CEO of Britain's largest bookstore, Waterstone's, defines a "heavy reader" to be someone who reads a book a month. We here at MR are at the extreme end of the bell curve of readers. We shouldn't take our own reading experiences to be remotely representative of the "real world". We're freaks .

Totally agreeing with this.
I think I am on track for at least 50 books. Most people I know are on track for either 1 or 0.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm on track to read about 130 books this year, every one of which is bought (I don't borrow books). And that's in a world in which the CEO of Britain's largest bookstore, Waterstone's, defines a "heavy reader" to be someone who reads a book a month. We here at MR are at the extreme end of the bell curve of readers. We shouldn't take our own reading experiences to be remotely representative of the "real world". We're freaks .

I think that very few people read more than 1-2 books per year. Everybody I know except for one person, only read when on vacation. Then they read 1-2 books, and that's it for the entire year.

So yeah, if you read 12 books a year, you're a heavy reader compared to that. I mostly read in public transport, which nets me around 30 books a year, which would be very heavy reading. 50+, let alone 100+, is an unimaginable amount of reading for the average person.

[theducks]

I don't think anyone in my family read less than 4 a month (that included technical journals).
We always had a TV, but it was only on for a hour or so. We also had bookshelves. Usually over full.

Even when I was on active duty, I read. more that 2 books a month.