Posted originally on: June 30, 2011
Pew internet research is the latest evidence that ereaders are here to stay. In the 6 months between November 2010 and May 2011, ownership of ereaders has gone up by 50%, meaning that 12% of the population now owns an ereader. Compare this to ownership of tablets during the same period, which rose a mere 3%, to 8% of the population. Among tablet owners, many of them also own an ereader, clearly recognizing the need for two devices.
While tablet sales had a boom, that has since died off. This is not to say they won’t boom again. They will, but their natural prey is not the ereader, as many seem to assume, but the computer itself. Whatever the hype for tablets, it appears that the consumer clearly identifies a need that is addressed by ereaders.