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Monday, May 30, 2011

Amazon's Kindle clear leader in eReader stakes

E-Book report: Nook improved, iPad still catching up


The New York book expo is over, and the assessments are being made.

Amazon's Kindle is seen as the dominant player in the eReader market, though Barnes & Noble's Nook got good comments and is doing surprisingly well.  Apple's iPad, on the other hand, is seen as an under-achiever.

Opinions were expressed that iPad would do better if they moved their eBooks into the iTunes stores, and had a better search capability in their iBookstore.  Others said that the bells and whistles (audio-visual gimmicks) were given more priority than actual book-reading.

The market is huge.  Though over 20 millions iPads were sold in the past 12 months, it is estimated to have been only 10% of the market.  Around 65% of eReader sales went to Amazon.
Availability is apparently a big factor. An Amazon spokesman revealed that their Kindle store has over 950,000 titles, while iBookstore has about 200,000.

I'm following developments with personal interest, not having bought an eReader yet. A friend proudly showed me her Kindle, which she loves.  It convinced me that I have to buy one with a touch screen, as all those tiny knobs were too hard to see.  Not only are they small, but they are lost in the frame, being the same color.

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