A survey from Harris Interactive turns up some very interesting facts about current e-book usage. The survey notes that 15%, or about 1 out of every 6 people, own an e-book reader (up from only about half that last year), and another 15% consider themselves likely to buy one within the next six months.
It also finds people who own e-readers both read more and buy more books than non-owners, and suggests the devices are by and large good for the book market in general.
One of the criticisms of e-Readers is that people who have them may download more books than they would traditionally purchase, but read at the same levels. So far this criticism is not holding true at all. Half of both e-Reader users (50% and non-users (51%) say they read the same amount as they did six months ago. However, while one-quarter of non e-Reader users (24%) say they are reading less than they did before (compared to just 8% of e-Reader users), over one-third of e-Reader users (36%) say they are reading more compared to just 16% of non-users.
There’s also a part of the survey covering what genres readers are reading, though it doesn’t break this down by e-reader owner or non-owner. 76% of people read fiction, and 76% read non-fiction (though probably not the same 76%). 47% of readers read mysteries and thrillers, and 25% read science fiction.
Anyway, these results suggest the future might not be as bleak for the publishing industry as the decline of paper might suggest. It will be interesting to see how they trend year to year.
(Found via The Digital Reader.)
