Presenters – Len Vlahos, Executive Director of BISG
October 2010 – ebook sales exploded.
hardcovers, paperbacks, etc – taking a huge dive at the same time
last year, the ebook curve flattened out quite a lot – it’s more incremental.
But – think of it more like a bowling average – it’s still fluctuating. Adult fiction is huge in ebook formats, other types of books not so much.
“Power buyers” are the ones buying ebooks – they buy 4 books a month, have a good income, and are younger.
What keeps people from buying ebooks?
- lack of a good eroding device – some
- difficult downloading process – some
- biggest – prefer print, and difficult to share with others
He thinks the market is maturing and becoming more predictable
Value of power buyers – 53% of books purchased, 60% of ebooks purchased
trying to compare music to books – he’s missing the point. me here – can’t really compare. There’s one format in music. There are a ton of ebook formats and devices.
Kept mentioning a maturing market – again, he’s only thinking of sales. Format-wise, ebooks is still int he betamax/8-track phase. Me here
Excellent – just said that 57% of people who borrow from the library then go out and buy – same author, same genre. So sharing does drive sales.
Next presenter – Kelly Gallagher at Bowker Market Research
What about the global ebook experience
Comment from second speaker – definitely NOT a mature market – mentioned devices. Thank you!
Gave a global view of ebook sales
Lots of people globally like free content. Go figure!
US – 59% still have no interest in digital content.
In US and other anglo countries, fiction and leisure reading is driving sales. On other countries, like Brazil or India, the professional/business genre is HUGE. They have a growing middle class, etc.
I’m working on a new ALA Library Technology Report (more on that later this year), and discovered something cool while checking my library’s analytics.