eReader Holiday Outlook: Forrester Ups Its Projections By 50%

The eReader market is growing faster than expected: Forrester published a report in May, “How Big Is The eReader Opportunity?”, that pegged 2009 US eReader sales at 2 million. Our new report ups that projection by 50% to 3 million for 2009, with 30% of 2009 sales occuring in the holiday season of November and December, and Amazon.com leading the ereader market.

There are a number of reasons why eReader sales are growing faster than we had expected, which we detail in the report, including falling device prices, more content availability, better retail distribution, and lots and lots of media buzz.

All these dynamics will compound to fuel more growth next year, and we expect more changes in the market that could push eReader sales beyond 6 million in 2010, bringing cumulative US sales to 10 million by year-end 2010.

With Nook & Sony readers out of stock, we can say next will be a Kindle Christmas.

Source: Forrester.

Kindle breaks monthly sales record again

U.S. Internet retailer Amazon.com Inc said on Thursday that its Kindle sales have already broke a monthly sales record, barely halfway through the month of December.

Amazon says the Kindle was the most wished, the most gifted and the #1 bestselling product across across the retailer’s site.

Amazon also announced yesterday it would sell Kindle (Global Wireless) with free expedited shipping — a contrast with its competitor Barnes & Noble, which has suffered delays in getting its Nook electronic reader into customers’ hands.

2 Millions Kindles sold on 2009

“The Kindle has definitely established itself as the iPod of the book world,” a Citigroup analyst told investors Thursday.
The Kindle, an e-book reader drawing the most attention beside Apple’s rumored tablet, could earn Amazon $1.6 billion in 2010, according to analyst Mark Mahoney. The analyst said the Kindle is having “greater than expected traction” and expects the company to sell 2 million Kindles in 2009 – up from 1.5 million previously forecast.
In November, Amazon announced record sales for the Kindle, saying the e-reader was “flying off the shelves faster than any other product Amazon sells.” The Internet retailer did not release any sales figures, however.

Source: Cult of Mac.

Kindle has best sales month in November

November was the best sales month ever for the Kindle e-reader, even before traditionally heavy sales on Cyber Monday, Amazon.com said early today.

“Kindle is a great gift for anyone who loves to read and it’s flying off the shelves faster than any other product Amazon sells,” said Ian Freed, vice president of Amazon’s Kindle division.

The latest Kindle generation, released in October, sells for $259 and is available for immediate shipment, Amazon.com said.

The fact that the Kindle device is shipping immediately may be Amazon.com’s main reason for making today’s announcement, drawing attention to Kindles remaining in stock compared to e-readers from other device makers that are sold out.

For example, the $259 Nook from Barnes & Noble Inc., was due to hit bookstores today after several weeks of pre-sales, but was recently reported out of stock, with deliveries starting after Jan. 4. Sony also said on Nov. 18 that its Daily Edition e-reader might not make it to buyers before the end of the year.

Source: Computerworld.