E-readers booked for boost

The year 2009 is likely to be remembered as a watershed year in the evolution of e-books and e-readers with several milestones and product launches standing out as catalysts for change in the market, according to Gartner.

However, says the company, while the number of electronic readers sold increased in 2009, it expects 2010 to be the year when e-book readers really become popular consumer electronic devices, culminating in e-reader 'mania'.

“With the entry of new players, such as Barnes and Noble, into the e-reader market and an increase in models from Amazon and Sony, consumers began to have choices in single-purpose e-reading devices in 2009,” said Allen Weiner, research vice-president at Gartner.

“Among the product differentiation points are support for E Ink’s electronic paper, support for further book formats and the ability of some devices to allow consumers to buy content wirelessly and to synchronise content across devices.”

Weiner said that while fixed devices - those built solely for reading - get most attention, book applications on smartphones are an important component of publishers’ digital strategy. However, it is believed to be too early in the evolution of the e-reading market to know whether smartphones will become stand-alone devices for reading books or whether they will complement other devices, such as fixed readers.

“Book applications for smartphones have the potential to become a bridge to other devices such as tablet readers and netbooks,” said Weiner.

“Apple, for example, could migrate the more than 500 book applications in the iTunes store to a tablet device and Google, which has announced a browser-based e-reader, could offer applications for Android-based devices of various form factors.”

There are some hurdles that need to be overcome before e-readers can become more mainstream, such as e-books needing a wider variety of retail channels, ranging from big box retailers and wireless carrier outlets to lifestyle outlets. More publishers must also be seen buying into e-readers.

For example, there has been news about the success of e-book sales of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol; however, other authors such as John Grisham and JK Rowling do not have their works available as e-books.

Longer term, Weiner believes that the future is bright for e-readers and advises publishers to be bullish in the digital distribution of e-books, newspapers and magazines.