Half of people surveyed plan to buy e-readers

[L.J. Sellers]

I was surprised to read that 49% of people surveyed (out of 13,000 internationally) said they plan to buy an e-reader in the next three years. The report is from Slate/The Big Money and includes other interesting tidbits, such as the three countries with the great awareness are India, China, and Japan.

http://www.thebigmoney.com/blogs/goo...knew?page=full

[J. Strnad]

So the USA is a bit behind the times.

[GeoffC]

would 13,000 be a representative view of the global market ?

i think prices need to come down more; and i wonder what the results would be if geo-restriction and drm were also mentioned .....

[Blue Tyson]

If those both exist long-term, and the percentage of the market reading electronically grows, for the English speaking world it will mean the USA and the UK will end up subsidising the free reading of a lot of people outside those countries that would buy if they could....

[SensualPoet]

Do we know what the percentage of households / population has (and actively uses) a stand-alone e-book reader today?

Somewhere, I have the idea that around 4 million devices have been sold in the US in the past couple of years ... with population of 330 million and 115 million households ... it's a pretty tiny percentage whichever metric you use.

So half the folks responding saying they intend to buy one ... that's impressive product awareness.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

Do we know what the percentage of households / population has (and actively uses) a stand-alone e-book reader today?

The most important unknown in any survey of this kind .....

[K-Thom]

According to a worldwide survey published in Germany only 3% of German consumers consider to buy a standalone eBook reading device. (PDF, in English)

Quite disappointing numbers, but more likely.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

The most important unknown in any survey of this kind .....

But not the only one...

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

Do we know what the percentage of households / population has (and actively uses) a stand-alone e-book reader today?

Since many people read on multi-use devices (like cellphones, UMPCs and laptops, etc), this doesn't answer how many are, or will be, reading e-books with or without a dedicated device.

[murraypaul]

I think the summary in the blog and this thread is rather misleading.
The survey actually found:

"Within the next year, 28 percent of all respondents—and 51 percent of those familiar with the devices—plan to purchase an e-reader or tablet. Within three years, 49 percent of all respondents—73 percent of those familiar with the devices—plan a purchase."

[...]

"Consumers clearly want to do more than just read with these devices, according to the survey. Globally, 66 percent of respondents would prefer to buy a multipurpose device, whereas only 24 percent prefer a single-function device, such as the Kindle. The remainder said they were undecided."

[...]

"However, mass acceptance of e-readers and tablets is not guaranteed unless prices drop dramatically. In the United States, consumers are only willing to spend up to $200 for a multipurpose device, far below the $499 entry price of the iPad."

Plus...
"All respondents were Web users and readers of print books, magazines, or newspapers."

So people who are already readers would like to buy an iPad for less than hald the price it costs now.

[jerome]

there ereaders at this point is quite limited. once the products has become more mature, it would be more in more demand compared to any tablet/umpc. imagine an ipad like ereader - colorful, but lighter, weeks of battery life, fully capable browser and kind to your eyes.

here in my country, the chance of spotting an ereader is like winning a lottery.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by jerome

there ereaders at this point is quite limited. once the products has become more mature, it would be more in more demand compared to any tablet/umpc. imagine an ipad like ereader - colorful, but lighter, weeks of battery life, fully capable browser and kind to your eyes.

here in my country, the chance of spotting an ereader is like winning a lottery.

assuredly, I have yet to see one in the 'wild' - or indeed anyone reading other than in paper ....

[dsvick]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

would 13,000 be a representative view of the global market ?

i think prices need to come down more; and i wonder what the results would be if geo-restriction and drm were also mentioned .....

I would bet that geo restrictions would have more of an effect than DRM. For the average person DRM is probably not much of an issue in that they dont think far enough ahead to worry about lack of portability or being able to copy them. For most of them it is a case of "hey it works now."

Whereas with geo restrictions, if you tell them thye can't get half of the books they want they'll be a lot less inclined to get a reader for the ones they can get.

[GeoffC]

the hidden secret no-one wants to talk about .... certainly any media write-ups I've seen only mention DRM ....