Rapid Growth in e-book Sales

Great chart above showing the steep rise in e-book sales since the end of 2008. E-book sales were $37.6 million in Q2 2009, rising 45.7% from Q1 2009. In June alone, e-book sales were $14mm or 1.5% of the month’s overall book sales of $942.6 million. While still a tiny sliver of the overall book publishing market, sales are set to rapidly rise over the coming year with several new products in the pipeline including a new wireless reader by Sony (launched on August 25th), Apple’s highly anticipated tablet (hopefully released by Q4 2009, but more likely in early 2010), and Plastic Logic’s 8.5 x 11 inch touchscreen device (sometime in 2010). Further many of the new product launches, including Sony’s new Reader Daily Edition, are using a more open approach, allowing for easier use of content across multiple platforms. The leading open format appears to be EPub, created by the International Digital Publishing Forum, and utilized by Sony’s new device.