Despite what many people think, traditional paper books are not disappearing. It’s true that the Kindle has seen great success and that bookstores have faced challenges, but this doesn’t mean that e-books will completely take over like digital music did. The infographic below provides a detailed explanation.
E-book sales have been on the rise since 2009, but the growth rate is now slowing down. There was a 33 percent jump in E-book sales in 2012 compared to 2011, but in the first eight months of 2013, the increase was only 4.8 percent compared to the previous year. E-books are not the same as digital music. The growth in digital music sales began to fall only after it made up more than 50 percent of music sales. In contrast, E-book sales have already started to slow down, even though they only represent 20 percent of total sales.
E-book sales are reaching a plateau and will settle around 25 percent, according to experts. While a lot of people are buying tablets, many of them are not buying them for reading purposes. Only two-thirds of e-book sales “cannibalize” paper book sales. In some places, like Canada, e-book sales have actually experienced a decline. The notion that independent bookstores are struggling should be put to rest. There were actually more bookstores in 2012 (1,567) than there were in 2009 (1,401).
To learn more about why classic paper books are nowhere near finished, check out the full infographic below!
