Kindle Books Outsell Hardcovers

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by carld

Eventually perhaps, or perhaps not. Currently 80% of Kindle ebooks are read on actual Kindles.

Edit: Or perhaps that's sales, I'd have to look up the actual quote to be certain.

Please do. You may be right, but I haven't seen any numbers that would substantiate it.

And it doesn't invalidate my point, which is that it probably doesn't matter if Amazon permits Kindle compatibility on other dedicated readers. Why should they? I don't see the possible increase in Amazon sales as significant.
______
Dennis

[carld]

80 percent of Kindle books we sell are sold to Kindle owners. They may have a Kindle app on a phone or an iPad or Mac or PC, but they at least have a Kindle. So 20 percent do not.

-- Ian Freed, an Amazon vice president in charge of the Kindle

Full article

I don't see any other manufacturer moving to Amazon's Kindle store either, it'd be tantamount to throwing in the towel. B&N certainly isn't going to, and I can't imagine the uproar if Sony did so. Maybe one of the smaller manufacturers would be possible, but it wouldn't be any big bump for Amazon.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by carld

Full article

Okay, thanks. I suspect the number that read Kindle editions on an iPhone or the like is greater than the 20% that don't have a Kindle. If I recall correctly, it's possible to have a Kindle edition on more than one device and sync them, so you can be reading on your actual Kindle, and pick up where you left off on your iPhone if you happen to be traveling and don't want to bring the reader along.

And I suspect that percentage will increase as the Kindle app becomes more widespread. The iPad in particular will account for a lot, because it's a media consumption device that can do other things besides display ebooks. (Think YouTube.) If you can read Kindle editions on your iPad, why buy an actual Kindle?

Mind you, there may be interesting developments down the road, as rumors have the Amazon subsidiary that developed the Kindle working on devices for other forms of content, so something from Amazon that competes with the iPad isn't out of the question.

I don't see any other manufacturer moving to Amazon's Kindle store either, it'd be tantamount to throwing in the towel.

It depends upon the device manufacturer. If it's one of the Asian consumer electronics outfits whose goal is to sell devices, it may be a good fit, as it eliminates the question of where the content will come from for western audiences. For the eastern market like China or India it's another matter.

B&N certainly isn't going to, and I can't imagine the uproar if Sony did so. Maybe one of the smaller manufacturers would be possible, but it wouldn't be any big bump for Amazon.

That's pretty much my take on it.
______
Dennis

[Ben Thornton]

I'm part of the 20% of Kindle book purchasers who don't have a Kindle. But I read my Kindle books on the Sony. I wonder what %age of that 20% are format shifting to another reader.

In a week or two, I'll be joining the 80% ...

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

I'm part of the 20% of Kindle book purchasers who don't have a Kindle. But I read my Kindle books on the Sony. I wonder what %age of that 20% are format shifting to another reader.

I'd guess a small fraction. Format shifting requires knowing how to do it, having the tools, and needing to. Most folks don't and wont.

In a week or two, I'll be joining the 80% ...

Why the switch? Do you anticipate using both readers, or do you expect the Kindle to become the primary device?
_____
Dennis

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Okay, thanks. I suspect the number that read Kindle editions on an iPhone or the like is greater than the 20% that don't have a Kindle. If I recall correctly, it's possible to have a Kindle edition on more than one device and sync them, so you can be reading on your actual Kindle, and pick up where you left off on your iPhone if you happen to be traveling and don't want to bring the reader along.

You can stop suspecting. If 20% of Kindle ebooks are purchased by people who don't have a Kindle; and of the other 80% who own a Kindle ebook purchasers, many will have secondary Kindle apps, then obviously more than 20% of all Kindle books are read away from a Kindle.

That's terrific news for Amazon. It continues to provide content which people read and buy for other devices. And it continues to improve the experience of the dedicated device so you'll eventually buy one of those, too. Each tactic comingles with the other keeping the consumer very content within the walled garden.

It would be interesting to know if Barnes and Noble is selling more pbooks, hardcovers AND ebooks collectively through its online store as Amazon has -- increasing the overall market (in units) for books. The same would be true of Borders Online and Chapters.Indigo Online -- has selling ebooks grown as well as selling pbooks and hardcovers online? If this is true, the "death of books" is a long way off.

[Ben Thornton]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Why the switch? Do you anticipate using both readers, or do you expect the Kindle to become the primary device?

Because I've struggled to get access to the content that I want, which Amazon sometimes has, and I've found format shifting to be unsatisfactory for a significant proportion of books. There's not been much (if anything) that I've wanted to access that I couldn't get from Amazon for the same or less. So, although I think that Sony makes nicer hardware, I'm switching to something that lets me get at more books!

[harryE123]

this is a shame, hardcover books are better. As well as being beautiful. I love my hardcovers.

The written word is being cheapened. Ebooks should be given free with hardcovers, not pimped at inordinate amounts of money without the option to at least buy the hardcover in a discounted price too.

I am glad so many people steal the living copyright daylights off of the publishers on the web. I am sorry for the authors of course, but they could exert their pressure too instead of being pushed around by publishers.

Will be interesting to see libraries disappearing from homes, what a shame.

[vaughnmr]

Originally Posted by harryE123

this is a shame, hardcover books are better. As well as being beautiful. I love my hardcovers.

The written word is being cheapened. Ebooks should be given free with hardcovers, not pimped at inordinate amounts of money without the option to at least buy the hardcover in a discounted price too.

I am glad so many people steal the living copyright daylights off of the publishers on the web. I am sorry for the authors of course, but they could exert their pressure too instead of being pushed around by publishers.

Will be interesting to see libraries disappearing from homes, what a shame.

You, my friend, are an absolute dunce. Enough said.

If hardbooks "float your boat", that's ok. I personally love my ebooks, thank you very much.

[harryE123]

A dunce? Precious!

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by harryE123

this is a shame, hardcover books are better. As well as being beautiful. I love my hardcovers.

I love mine, too, but "better" is a highly subjective opinion.

The written word is being cheapened. Ebooks should be given free with hardcovers, not pimped at inordinate amounts of money without the option to at least buy the hardcover in a discounted price too.

Dream on. Not all books get issued as hardcovers. The majority are still likely to see first publication as a mass market paperback. Do you believe ebooks should be given free with those, too?

And "inordinate amounts of money" is a considerable overstatement. The majority of the costs of producing a book occur before it reaches the stage of being published, in paper or electronic form. Costs of printing, binding, warehousing and distribution are at most 20% of the budget of the average book. There's a lot of wishful thinking on how cheap an ebook can be and still make money.

There are publishers with exaggerated ideas of how much they can charge for an ebook, but that will be self-correcting. Charge too much for something and people won't buy it.

I am glad so many people steal the living copyright daylights off of the publishers on the web. I am sorry for the authors of course, but they could exert their pressure too instead of being pushed around by publishers.

Just what pressure do you think they could exert? Unless you are an international best seller like Steven King or John Grisham, you don't have any pressure to apply. You need the publisher far more than it needs you.

Stealing the living copyright daylights off of the publishers also steals from the authors you claim to be sorry for.

Will be interesting to see libraries disappearing from homes, what a shame.

Does the fact that I have something over 4,000 ebooks on several different devices mean I don't have a library in my home? (I probably have at least that many paper books, but I'd still have a library if they didn't exist.)
______
Dennis

[harryE123]

Well, I never said this was anything but my opinion.

Yes I firmly believe that an ebook copy should be given with every paperback too, it costs close to nothing extra. Even if pbook prices rise by a % I think they should ALL include a cross platform ebook version too by default.

I want to continue buying my paper books and have a physical library, yet I also want the right to read a few pages or take a few of them with me on an ebook reader without having the bulk for the occasional trip. Should I pay almost twice for that? Of course I and others shouldn't. The status quo as is, is unacceptable.

And this is not self corrective by the market, that's a long gone myth.

I am sincerely sorry for authors losing profits, but most lesser known authors do not have their copyrights violated on the web. In any case this is a certain radical stance that will possibly show publishers that whatever they do unless they start offering a fair product, which is to say a slightly higher price for ebook+pbook combos over ebooks, better cross platform standards (no more of that pdf garbage), open non drm books (that is questionable even to me too so far), they will face the radicalism that the web affords. Do they want to be like the music industry that was too late to notice this and has hemorrhaged profits every since (and hadn't it been for apple they be shooting themselves on the foot), or do they want to wizen up?

They don't seem like they do. Shame.

Of course you understand I am referring to physical libraries. These are irreplaceable to me. The sense of owning own, having friends and relatives browse it over a cup of coffee, making a reading room where you read surrounded by your books, and you can get up and move about the physically browse it outside of that perennial screen we have in front of us...handing out a book, the tactile sense of the book, the dog eared pages, the inscribed note etc. etc. are all irreplaceable to me. More so than for music. But even with music I miss that physical item a lot as well, vinyl in particular.

[cvkemp]

I will always pick a ebook over paper books if it is possible. I do admit that I have a couple of authors that I want their books as so as they are available so I end up with hard back books. But I end up getting the ebook when it is available.

Charles
PS Its hard on the old back careing around a thousand+ paper books all the time and that is what I have end my ereader.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Costs of printing, binding, warehousing and distribution are at most 20% of the budget of the average book.

I find this very hard to believe.
In fact, I can't believe it without hard numbers, it just doesn't make sense.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

I find this very hard to believe.
In fact, I can't believe it without hard numbers, it just doesn't make sense.

According to this, even less:http://p.printingchoice.com/e-books-...vs-real-books/