Amazon has announced that us plucky Brits have really developed a taste for the eBook recently, as the online retailer is are now selling more Kindle eBooks through its platform than any other type of physical paper book in the UK.
Just to clarify; that includes all paperback books including hardback, paperback and children’s books that have now been outsold by Amazon’s own Kindle eBook format.
Amazon has stated that for every 100 print books sold by Amazon.co.uk in 2012 they sold 114 digital versions of books. Additionally, Amazon has seen a rise in book sales overall with the rise of the eBook reader, with the company stating that people are just more keen to buy books of any kind since the Kindle’s release.
Amazon reckons that Kindle readers buy up to four times the number of books they did before they owned a Kindle, but this figure may just represent the fact that Kindle owners can only buy from the Amazon store, which removes some of the competition.
The rise of the Kindle has not spurned the end of actual physical paper print books however, as Amazon says its physical book sales are also on the up. Jorrit Van der Meulen, Amazons Vice President of Kindle, stated: “Customers in the UK are now choosing Kindle books more often than print books, even as our print business continues to grow,”
“We hit this milestone in the US less than four years after introducing Kindle, so to reach this landmark after just two years in the UK is remarkable and shows how quickly UK readers are embracing Kindle.
“As a result of the success of Kindle, we’re selling more books than ever before on behalf of authors and publishers. And thanks to Kindle Direct Publishing, thousands of self-published authors have also been given an outlet to share their work with the millions of Kindle readers worldwide.”
Amazon certainly will be pleased with this result as more and more readers switch towards their Kindle eReaders and tablet, PC and smartphone applications.
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.