China and India to dominate education e-books

[DavidI]

Originally Posted by elcreative

Read the thread, including the article linked by the OP at the beginning. This is what we've been talking about, not Kindles, iPads or any other thing dominating in the US and the West in general... the article related to China and India! And I was casting doubt on the quoted figures because they didn't make any sense...

Why be a smartass with all the condescension and cheesy smiley icons? I didn't take that kind of tone with you -- don't do it to me.

Now if you are interested in a civil conversation, I'd be interested in where you are getting your 4 million ebook figure. My point in my last post was that if there are over 4 million ebook readers being produced then your 4 million ebooks figure may be off. By the way, China manufactures these devices which is why this is a $12 billion market for them.

[Graham]

The figure of USD 12 billion would seem to be supported by this reference from June last year for the figures for 2007 and 2008.

The revenue of the digital publishing industry in China in 2009 will exceed RMB 75 billion, since it is growing even faster than last year, when it reached RMB 53 billion in 2008, up 46.42% from 2007, said Sun Shoushan, vice director of the General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP) at the Second Chinese Digital Publishing Exposition in Beijing.

Last year's forecast of RMB 75 billion would equate to USD 11.3 billion at today's exchange rate so an actual figure of USD 12 billion seems reasonable.

Note that both articles refer to the whole of the digital publishing industry which

comprises internet magazines, e-books, digital newspapers, blogs, online music, mobile phone publishing products, online games and internet advertising.

Graham

[elcreative]

I give up on this thread... there was a reference posted by the OP and a link to the article... all I did was read the damned article and point out that as stated the figures didn't make sense, a simple statement then everybody jumps in with opinions, stuff about other things and ignores the article... what's the point?

[Graham]

Originally Posted by elcreative

I give up on this thread... there was a reference posted by the OP and a link to the article... all I did was read the damned article and point out that as stated the figures didn't make sense, a simple statement then everybody jumps in with opinions, stuff about other things and ignores the article... what's the point?

You're correct that the USD 12 billion output couldn't be supported by sales of eReading devices, and you were right that global sales in 2009 were about 4 million, but the article says the rise is propelled by sales of eReading devices, not entirely attributable to them. You are right though that the article is misleading. It quotes what's likely to be an accurate number for

China's digital publishing industry

but then suggests that this is due to the growth of the eReader and eBook markets. Doubtless there has been a big rise in revenue there, but the whole digital publishing industry covers a lot of other products such as online music, mobile phone games and advertising.

Others were correct to point out that for every eReading device sold in 2009 you'd expect multiple sales of eBooks - and we should also note that there would be eBooks sold to owners of devices bought in previous years - but you're right, elcreative, that even then the maths doesn't stack up just for eBooks.

Graham

[elcreative]

Thanks Graham, that's all I was trying to say before everything started spiralling... I do admit to having a much shorter fuse as I get older and my health continues to deteriorate so try and blunt it with humour but so many on here don't seem to have any sense of humour or take things so seriously that it's seen as offensive... go figure... have a good Christmas.

[elcreative]

Why not do as I suggested... read the link in the OP, that's what the original discussion was all about and that's where the figures were coming from... and that's what I was casting doubt on... the content of the article not any other sources or anything else, one article, one set of comments based on it and a whole thread of generally irrelevant responses based on anything but the article... and if your sense of humour is so deficient that the smilies offend you then I am deeply sorry and apologise profusely.

Originally Posted by DavidI

Why be a smartass with all the condescension and cheesy smiley icons? I didn't take that kind of tone with you -- don't do it to me.

Now if you are interested in a civil conversation, I'd be interested in where you are getting your 4 million ebook figure. My point in my last post was that if there are over 4 million ebook readers being produced then your 4 million ebooks figure may be off. By the way, China manufactures these devices which is why this is a $12 billion market for them.