Books published on paper are so 1800? Maybe, but Kindle sales have plummeted — shoppers at one UK book retailer have all but stopped buying Amazon’s ebook readers while increasing traditional ink-on-paper books. What’s next, cats and dogs living together?
In other news, vinyl record sales are also said to be growing, up by nearly half in 2014 over 2013, wow.
The Telegraph (UK) reports that Britain’s largest bookseller Waterstones claims Kindle sales have all but evaporated while physical book — yes, the ink on paper variety — sales increase by 5 percent.
“The ebooks have developed a share of the market, of course they have, but every indication – certainly from America – shows the share is already in decline,” said Waterstone’s founder Tim Waterstone. “The indications are that it will do exactly the same in the UK.”
That said, Amazon launched the Kindle back in 2007, sales of which are thought to have peaked in 2011 at 13.44 million units worldwide. Kindle sales have since 2012 stabilized at around 9.7 million Kindles a year.
For what it’s worth, iPad sales peaked in 2013 and actually fell last year — Apple, of course, remains in rude health.
So, what are we seeing here? The end of the ebook reader and tablet fads? Or, have Kindle sales, Waterstone’s aside, settled into a new normal?
What’s your take?