Fears that traditional media will eventually shrivel up and die have been blown out of the water by new research which shows the vast majority of people who read books via digital formats are still buying paper books too.
Conducted by marketing solutions and print services provider St Ives Group, the poll of 1,000 UK adults also shows people who read via both formats get through on average 50% more books in a year than those who read only digital or physical books.
Readers of both finish an average of 27.3 books per year; more than one per fortnight. The 4% who only use e-readers get through 18.5 annually, while the figure is 17.4 for those just reading paper books.
The survey found 36% of respondents now own an e-reader – up from 10% penetration in 2012 and 22% in 2013- but just 4% said they only read e-books, while nearly half (47%) say they read both e-books and traditional paper books.
With a further 37% only reading paper books, this appears to counter concerns that an increase in e-reader popularity could lead to declining interest in paper formats.
The survey also revealed that while e-readers are considered convenient and fashionable by consumers compared to paper books, they are seen as less tactile, relaxing or natural than their traditional counterparts.
Kate McFarlan, strategic director at St Ives Group’s printing business Clays, said: “Far from e-readers sounding the death knell for traditional publishing formats, our survey shows that people who own digital devices aren’t dismissing traditional books. This can only be good news for the book printing industry. As a business we have always believed that physical and digital books can co-exist, and the research supports our view.”
Recent statistics released by the Association of American Publishers revealed that adult ebook sales were up by just 4.8% in 12 months, compared with an 11.5% increase for hardcover reads.
The figures led Waterstones founder Tim Waterstone to say he had read and heard “more garbage about the strength of the ebook revolution” than anything else he had known.
Waterstone added: “The ebooks have developed a share of the market, of course they have, but every indication – certainly from America – shows the share is already in decline. The indications are that it will do exactly the same in the UK.”
It is not known how this decline will affect the launch of Waterstone’s new venture, Read Petite, a subscription-based digital reading platform focusing on short-form fiction and non-fiction. The company’s chief operting officer is Neill Denny, the former editor in chief of The Bookseller and founding editor of the now defunct Haymarket title Marketing Direct.
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