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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
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Kindle books now outsell print books

By | May 19, 2011, 7:12am PDT

Amazon has announced that Kindle ebooks sales have now surpassed sales of print books.

Kindle ebooks had already overtaken hardback sales in July 2010, and six months later Kindle overtook sales of paperbacks. Today, less than four years after the Kindle was released, Kindle books now outsell print books (hardback and paperbacks) combined.

  • Since April 1st, for every 100 print books sold by Amazon, 105 Kindle books are sold (this figure excludes free books).
  • Five weeks following launch, Amazon’s cheaper ad-supported Kindle with Special Offers ($114) is the bestselling Kindle.
  • Amazon.co.uk is now selling more Kindle books than hardcover books (more than 2 to 1).

What is unclear is how much these sales rely on the Kindle hardware as opposed to the other platforms on which Kindle books can be accessed (PC, iOS … etc).

Like the Kindle or not, it’ll save a few trees.

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Topics

E-book, Sales Strategy, Sales Force Management, E-books & E-Readers, Sales, Personal Technology, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Disclosure

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

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RE: Kindle books now outsell print books
OffsideInVancouver 19th May 2011
I'm ambivalent towards the Kindle but I *heart* trees! grin
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RE: Kindle books now outsell print books
vel0city 19th May 2011
@OffsideInVancouver I hate trees. Every time I see one, I have to go cut it down. I keep a giant chainsaw and a big brush shredder with me everywhere I go.
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RE: Kindle books now outsell print books
casper01 13th Sep
@OffsideInVancouver that is so sweet! Spiritual Coach
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RE: Kindle books now outsell print books
casper01 19th Sep
@OffsideInVancouver I think that this should have happened a very long time ago SEO Hobart
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Wow
oncall 19th May 2011
That was fast. Good job Amazon.

I kind of wonder where most of their sales come from as well. I personally buy exclusively through web browsers and not the Kindle device. the device is nice if I know exactly what I want but it's soo much easier and faster to browse ebooks online.
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Sigh. Trees are a crop. Talking about saving trees
fr_gough 19th May 2011
is just as pointless as talking about saving wheat. It is amazing just how deeply the indoctrination has embedded itself.
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RE: Kindle books now outsell print books
x I'm tc 19th May 2011
@frgough@...
Agreed. Given how heavily regulated forest-lands are, the paper industry may actually be *good* for the environment.
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RE: Kindle books now outsell print books
Aerowind 19th May 2011
@frgough@... Fun fact, we could remove all the trees from the face of the planet and still be fine, because most of our oxygen is created from cyanobacteria, algae, kelp and the like.
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Not entirely true
Zorched 20th May 2011
@Aerowind Go here:
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/
Notice the squiggly red line? It goes up and down because of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, where most of the trees are. When it's late summer and the trees have been working all summer, the CO2 levels drop.

As for Kindle books: I won't buy them for two reasons 1) if I lose my kindle, I'm out at least 130 bucks. I lose one of my books, I'm out 10. 2) The reason publishers LOVE e-books is two fold: They can control the resale market-- as in kill it completely, making them more money, and they have almost NO printing or distribution costs yet they only charge a buck or so less than paper. Greedy #@%$!!!. I won't give my money to them while they laugh all the way to the bank.
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I'm buying both
Ken_z 19th May 2011
I have a Kindle and some books on it, but mainly use it when I travel.

Personally I enjoy heading to a bookstore (B&N is all that is left for me though) and I first had to the bargain book section. Loads of warehouse clearances and a great way to find new (to me) writers.

I also like the idea of passing books along, to friends & family. And when I get books I don't want to keep I donate them to the local VA Clinic, who delivers them to a VA hospital for the patients.

Hard to do that with a Kindle.
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Anabolic steroids
joselister 20th May 2011
I'm ambivalent towards the Kindle but I *heart* trees! grin
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RE: Kindle books now outsell print books
mjablkowski 23rd May 2011
What I cannot understand is why the Kindle editions are typically more expensive than paperbacks. There is no paper fabrication involved, no printing, no distribution, yet it is not cheaper.
This, in addition to other reasons mentioned above, have kept me from buying Kindle.

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