Is there a room for e-book readers in the tablet era?
June 4, 2010 by marek.miller
Anywhere you turn, you can hear about tablets. Ipads here, WeTabs there. Does anybody still remember Kindle, Nook or Sony Reader? Those devices conquered the market just a couple of years ago. Are they history already? Are they going to be marginalized just as newspapers in pdf’s turned out to be a dead-end content distribution model?
Within the next three years, the sales of e-book readers is expected to be growing: in 2013 about 14 millions of such devices are expected to be sold. But later on, their popularity will begin to slow down (with 7% drop in 2014). Why? Because they will be pushed away from the market by the multifunctioning devices such as tablets.
This forecast has been stated in the latest Informa Telecoms and Media report (specializing in media and electronics market analysis). According to the report, after 2013 more and more people will be using tablets and more advanced smartphones. Such devices will quickly gain popularity among the ebook readers.
There is a huge number of people who still prefer reading to browsing. E-book readers with technology based on e-ink focus on reading – letting users read during the day, with no reflections of the daylight. This is something LCD screens can’t do at the moment. E Ink displays make for lighter, thinner devices that do not strain the eyes and have great battery life. Therefore, within the next couple of years, ebook readers can still be succesful.
There are basically three major devices on the market today: Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader and Nook from Barnes and Noble. These devices are still expanding, against the market trends bound with the growing popularity of iPad.
Kindle is expected to release its third model in August. It is already being criticised for the lack
of the colour screen and lack of the touchscreen function. Sony Reader already moved to touchscreen usability. Also Nook will release its upgraded version very soon. The market is looking closely for every product that could be competetive towards iPad.
There is a couple of avantages of ebook readers: they allow comfortable, eyes friendly reading ,they are small, light and easy to carry, and most importantly – their battery life is very long. It is however probable that in the future many people will use that kind of equipment, in which reading will be one of many possibilities. This means smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices.
In the nexr couple of months we will probable be witnesses to the process of ebook readers market segmentation – two types of devices will be most popular: on one hand very basic, on the other, very expensive ones with many extra functions. The first sort of devices can even not be equipped with WiFi functions.
The appearence of iPad on the market is a great sign for ebook manufacturers. Those who want to stay, will have to adjust to the changing conditions. This means constant development. Will this mean a revolution in the ebook market? We shall see.
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I think many people misunderstand when they describe iPad as a Kindle-killer. In fact the two devices fulfill completely different tasks.
I am a devoted Kindle user – and I love iPad. But the two devices are just for different purposes. Kindle is an e-reader – for reading text. iPad is a multimedia tablet, for a great experience of multimedia content. They each serve their purpose very well.
iPad is for the sofa, relaxing in the night time. But now it is summer. I want to go out in my garden to read. In that context the iPad just doesn’t work – except as a mirror, that is. My Kindle, on the other hand, works well outdoor as well. It is wonderful for reading text, but a major failure if you want to surf the web or watch a video.
I am pretty sure there will be a market both for multimedia tablets and e-readers. In fact I think we will have a number of devices to consume content in the future. Some of the we don’t even imagine today.
I was in Barcelona this spring and brought my Kindle. For vacation purposes – having rented an apartment with a roof terrace – it was just great.
I described the experience in this blog post:
http://www.betatales.com/2010/04/04/kindle-my-perfect-vacation-companion/