Data Monday: eBooks vs. Paperbacks

by January 30, 2011

It's inevitable that what can be digital will become digital -it's simply faster, cheaper, and better to manage information as bits. As further evidence, Amazon announced last week that Kindle ebook sales overtook its total sales of paperback print editions in the US.

  • Amazon.com is now selling more Kindle books than paperback books. (source)
  • Since the beginning of the year, for every 100 paperback books Amazon has sold, the company has sold 115 Kindle books. (source)
  • Additionally, during this same time period the company has sold three times as many Kindle books as hardcover books. (source)
  • This is across Amazon.com's entire US book business and includes sales of books where there is no Kindle edition. Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the numbers even higher. (source)
  • The U.S. Kindle Store now has more than 810,000 books including New Releases and 107 of 112 New York Times Bestsellers. (source)