Ebook Readers: Steady Growth Amidst Tablet Dominance
Dedicated reading devices belong to a category of gadgets that many tech-loving analysts apparently struggle to comprehend. As early as 2011, various parties were predicting the end of eReaders, a sentiment that has been repeated like a mantra over the years. The argument then and now: eBook readers have no place in a mobile electronics world dominated by tablets. At first glance, this may seem reasonable, but on closer examination, the opposite turns out to be true.
Devices with an e-paper display are not really competing with flat-screen computers. Sure, you can read eBooks on a tablet, but the core focus of multimedia devices undoubtedly lies elsewhere. Thus, tablets are likely to be more appealing to casual readers (with obvious exceptions), while eBook readers are increasingly used by individuals who want to focus solely on reading—and who do so quite often, extensively, and for long periods.
eBook Readers as an Established Device Type
eBook reader growth in Germany over recent years
A Bitkom market forecast for 2014 confirms this view: even in 2014, the market for dedicated reading devices continues to grow. Although the forecasted growth is significantly slowing down, it still remains in the low double-digit percentage range at 12 percent.
If the analysis is to be believed, 1.23 million eBook readers will be sold in Germany this year. This marks an increase of 140,000 devices compared to the previous year. In previous years, the growth curve was much steeper, but this should not have been surprising given the low sales volumes back then. According to the forecast, revenue is expected to increase by 7 percent, with the average price for a device at 94 euros, which is 4 euros lower than the previous year.
However, it remains unclear how exactly the average price is calculated. Is it simply the average of commercially available devices, or is their share of the total market accounted for? In any case, the drop in the average price seems counterintuitive considering the various high-priced new releases (e.g., PocketBook Ultra: 169 euros, InkPad: 189 euros; Kobo Aura H2O: 179 euros; Kindle Voyage: starting at 189 euros) in recent weeks.
We’ll also have to wait and see if the forecasts will actually be realized, as the most lucrative time of year for sales is just about to begin, and as we’ve seen several times in the past, customer preferences can be unpredictable. In any case, there is at least no expectation of a collapse in eBook reader sales, so we can continue to assert that this device category, alongside tablets and smartphones, has long been established and probably will not disappear anytime soon. It is likely only when the transitions between LCD and e-paper displays become seamless that this might change.
