According to the Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute (MIC), the numbers of eReaders (such as the Kindle) shipped will balloon 183% from last year. That is, this year, almost 35 million ebooks readers will ship this year, up from 12.3 million units in 2010.
This is a remarkable number, indicating that the Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook and other eBook Readers are taking off in popularity.
Looking further, the 2012 figures might surpass 50 million units shipped, if current growth patterns stay in line. MIC sees the United States as the biggest growth market during that period as eReaders evolve into a new generation. To quote the organization, they say “Consumers prefer e-readers with multimedia functions in overal performance, coloriazation, and product differentiation are key factors for market success.”
And, as seen about a week ago, Amazon is expected to release a new version of the Kindle. The new tablet version will actually run a version of Android and will run apps, view movies and allow you to listen to music. Also, the Nook is more than just an eReader – it too runs applications, much like MIC is suggesting.
This holiday season is coming up and new eReaders and cheap tablets will be very interesting to watch. What excited you the most?
[hat tip to CENS.com]
Photo credit: thekellyscope
One of the nice thing is if you have a Droid or Iphone there are Kindle, Nook and other Ereader apps out there for your phone or tablet.