Libri.de eBook Sales Surpass Paperbacks; Sony PRS-T1 Now Available
Based on the sales figures from the bookseller libri.de, it seems the German eBook market is picking up speed faster than expected.
According to a recent press release from Libri.de, eBook sales in October have, for the first time, surpassed all other book formats. This means more eBooks were sold than paperbacks or hardcovers.
“In October, eBooks were, for the first time, the best-selling book format on Libri.de. This marks a new milestone in our electronic books business. Customers appreciate our open EPUB standard, which enables reading eBooks on different devices and purchasing from various shops, making it future-proof,” commented Libri.de’s managing director Per Dalheimer on this development.
In comparison, Amazon’s eBooks only surpassed paperbacks in January 2011, despite years of Kindle promotion. While Libri occupies a different position in the German market compared to Amazon in the US market, this development is nonetheless remarkable—especially considering that most German publishers report eBook sales of less than one percent. However, eBook sales have not suddenly increased; they’ve been steadily growing since their introduction at Libri.de in 2005.
Libri.de isn’t stopping here. As of today, the Sony PRS-T1 is also immediately available at the bookseller. Libri.de hopes the launch of the new Sony Reader will further accelerate eBook sales, likely due to Libri providing the eBook store (pure speculation!).
It’s surely no coincidence that such a success story is emerging for eBooks just before Christmas, but nonetheless, this development strongly indicates that the German-speaking book market is now undergoing a transformation.
By the way, the PRS-T1 is also directly available from Sony again.
