E-book reader sales to boom as prices plunge
Rivals follow Amazon and cut
World shipments of e-book readers with electronic ink screens topped 6.5m in Q3 2011, market watcher IDC has said.
That represents quarter-on-quarter growth of 27 per cent, and an increase of 165.9 per cent on Q3 2010's total.
Expect even greater increases this quarter, IDC said, as the gadgets get cheaper. Not only did Amazon knock the entry price of the Kindle to $79/£89, but its rivals pushed their own prices down too in a bid to remain competitive.
Sony, for example, is currently selling its Reader PRS-T1 for just $99 - it's still £129 ($200) here, ahem - in the States, which is a real bargain.
The US matters to Sony and others because it's the world's biggest e-book reader arena. It accounts for 80 per cent of global reader shipments, IDC said. Europe is in second place. ®
COMMENTS
In extreme ripoff cases
Like the Pratchett book a while ago which was £8 hardback or £22 drm-encumbered ebook, I have been known to buy the treeware version and then format-shift to electronic via the internet.
Much like doing the same with music, it's not strictly legal, but the creator still gets paid so I don't feel bad.
So not content with just changing the $ to a £ sign... Amazon and Sony are actually ADDING to the figure when converting to pounds too? I can't believe the shit we put up with in the UK when it comes to tech pricing - I'm getting a Kobo just to spite them.
It's been said a few times on here...
...that you are not tied to sourcing books from Amazon if you have a Kindle. Freeware such as Calibre will convert in seconds other eBook formats into one the Kindle can handle.
Exactly the way that I do things, particularly with eBooks. I've got a massive collection of deadwood sitting in storage back in Britain, and I want to read them again. I don't feel any real qualms about downloading the eBook version of a book I already bought (particularly if the author has now died).
Do your homework...
before spouting rubbish....After all they still rip you off for the e-books,
Amazon Kindle free classics... currently over 4,500 free books. Top 5 of those by popularity.. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes , A Christmas Carol , Pride and Prejudice, Dracula and Jane Eyre ... you may have heard of them?
If nothing else, buying one for someone who is studying literature would save a fortune, picking up numerous Shakespeare, Dickens or Twain books for free.
