The PEW Internet and American Life Project released a report that shows Americans are increasingly reading books on tablets and eReaders. In a February survey, 21 percent of adults said they had read an eBook in the last year, compared to 17 percent who reported doing so in December.
That tracked with a major spike in ownership of eReader devices that occurred during the holiday gift-giving season in December. During that period, ownership of an eReader or a tablet each increased to 19 percent of adults, compared to 10 percent for each device in mid-December.
The PEW study also found that those who read eBooks actually read more books than those who don’t have the devices. The average reader of eBooks has read an average of 24 books in the past 12 months, compared with an average of 15 books by those who don’t own eReaders.
And while eReaders are most definitely increasing in popularity, printed books still dominate. In a December 2011 survey, 72 percent of American adults said they had read a printed book and 11 percent listened to an audiobook in the previous year, compared with the 17 percent of adults who had read an eBook.
Using a broader definition of e-content in a PEW survey from December 2011, some 43 percent of Americans age 16 and older say they have either read an eBook in the past year or have read other long-form content such as magazines, journals and news articles in digital format on an eReader, tablet computer, regular computer or cell phone.
To be sure, there’s room to grow. PEW found that 19 percent of Americans own tablets, and 19 percent of Americans own eReaders. Kindle was the most popular eReader. Fully 62 percent of those who own eReaders have a Kindle device, while 22 percent owned Barnes & Noble’s Nook devices.
PEW also noted a major shift in the tablet market between December and February, with the introduction of Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet, both of which were offered at considerably lower prices than other tablets on the market. As a result, the Kindle Fire’s popularity among tablet owners age 18 and older grew over the past few months. The Kindle Fire grew in market share from 5 percent of the market in mid-December to 14 percent of the tablet market in mid-January.
