Japan: Mobile phones driving market growth for e-books

grimo1re · 06-21-2007, 05:48 AM

From today's morning edition of the Nikkei Business Daily (subscription required):

Quote:

Mobile Phones Driving Market Growth For Electronic Books

TOKYO (Nikkei)--The size of the domestic market for electronic books grew to 18 billion yen in fiscal 2006, double the previous year's tally, according to research conducted by IT-related publisher Impress R&D.

The expansion was led by a rapid surge in the distribution of electronic comics for mobile phones. Electronic books on mobile phones are convenient for whiling away some spare time, such as when traveling, and hence are attracting a growing number of users, particularly young people.

The value of electronic books for mobile phones distributed in fiscal 2006 jumped to 11 billion yen, 2.4 times the level posted the prior year. Sales of electronic books for personal computers rose 50% to 7 billion yen.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 06-21-2007, 07:59 AM

Has anyone on these forums seen these "electronic comics" the article mentions? Being a fan of Sequential Art myself, I'm interested in how comics and graphic novels are being formatted for the smartphones' small screens, the quality, and what people have indicated they do and do not like.

igorsk · 06-21-2007, 08:20 AM

Here's some links
http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/ar...6/news035.html
http://www.nttsolmare.com/comic_cmoa...review&tid=221
Click here for more.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 06-21-2007, 08:39 AM

Very nice! I wonder if that sort of thing will ever catch on in the U.S. market? I'd even consider brushing off my old pens to give it a shot!

nekokami · 06-21-2007, 11:50 AM

Manga is a very fast-growing genre in the US right now, especially among teens (and they usually have cell phones capable of supporting the graphics, too). I'd say it's time to get your pens out -- or invest in a Wacom tablet.

I think it's very interesting that at least half of the examples on those pages were "shoujo" type manga. It suggests that the female demographic for ebook manga is at least as strong as the male audience. (No surprise, really, I just think it's interesting, as this audience often gets overlooked in the US.)

Ebook lover · 06-21-2007, 12:54 PM

Maybe someone should design an ebook reader dedicated in reading ebooks

Steven Lyle Jordan · 06-21-2007, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nekokami

I think it's very interesting that at least half of the examples on those pages were "shoujo" type manga. It suggests that the female demographic for ebook manga is at least as strong as the male audience. (No surprise, really, I just think it's interesting, as this audience often gets overlooked in the US.)

I'm not surprised about that... in the U.S., romance readers (primarily female) are the fastest-growing e-book segment according to various sources. So in that way, we're mirroring Japan (or Japan is mirroring us) in the growing interest in romance e-material. (I've gotta try my hand at that one of these days...)

Of course, the first one I looked at was Lupin...

nekokami · 06-21-2007, 04:38 PM

Hey, shoujo isn't all romance.

RWood · 06-21-2007, 04:47 PM

I can see this starting in the US as something like the "Daily Dilbert" That would get a lot of traction very fast.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 06-21-2007, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nekokami

Hey, shoujo isn't all romance.

Forgive a poor Gaijin who isn't up on his Japanese terminology...

emuty · 06-22-2007, 03:38 PM

Hello.

The screen of the Mobil telephone is small(240x400dot). But it is clear screen.
It is popular recently to do play of a console game in Mobil telephone.

...But, I want to still read the book with paper or iLead. :-(

# (sample) It is a console game of the Mobile phone
http://motto.product.co.jp/
# D902i(Mobile phone) screen capture
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/artic...top/26507.html

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06-21-2007, 07:59 AM	#2
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	Has anyone on these forums seen these "electronic comics" the article mentions? Being a fan of Sequential Art myself, I'm interested in how comics and graphic novels are being formatted for the smartphones' small screens, the quality, and what people have indicated they do and do not like.

06-21-2007, 08:20 AM	#3
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	Here's some links http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/ar...6/news035.html http://www.nttsolmare.com/comic_cmoa...review&tid=221 Click here for more.

06-21-2007, 08:39 AM	#4
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	Very nice! I wonder if that sort of thing will ever catch on in the U.S. market? I'd even consider brushing off my old pens to give it a shot!

06-21-2007, 11:50 AM	#5
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	Manga is a very fast-growing genre in the US right now, especially among teens (and they usually have cell phones capable of supporting the graphics, too). I'd say it's time to get your pens out -- or invest in a Wacom tablet. I think it's very interesting that at least half of the examples on those pages were "shoujo" type manga. It suggests that the female demographic for ebook manga is at least as strong as the male audience. (No surprise, really, I just think it's interesting, as this audience often gets overlooked in the US.)

06-21-2007, 12:54 PM	#6
Ebook lover NUUT, Cybook Device Posts: 49 Karma: 11 Join Date: Aug 2006 Device: O2	Maybe someone should design an ebook reader dedicated in reading ebooks

06-21-2007, 04:38 PM	#8
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	Hey, shoujo isn't all romance.

06-21-2007, 04:47 PM	#9
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	I can see this starting in the US as something like the "Daily Dilbert" That would get a lot of traction very fast.

06-22-2007, 03:38 PM	#11
emuty Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Tokyo, Japan Device: kindle2,iLiad	Hello. The screen of the Mobil telephone is small(240x400dot). But it is clear screen. It is popular recently to do play of a console game in Mobil telephone. ...But, I want to still read the book with paper or iLead. :-( # (sample) It is a console game of the Mobile phone http://motto.product.co.jp/ # D902i(Mobile phone) screen capture http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/artic...top/26507.html