FutureBook Census shows shift to tablets

For the first time in the five years of the FutureBook Digital Census, more respondents say they commonly read on an iPad (41.9%) than do a Kindle (37.9%). However, Amazon is still by far the dominant retail site for buying e-books.

The results, from FutureBook’s Digital Census completed by 1,111 respondents, shows has dedicated e-ink devices are gradually losing favour—at least among the publishing crowd. Apple’s advances in iPad technology, and the addition of the Mini and Air to its stable, might well be behind this, as might the market saturation of the Kindle.

However, when it comes to buying e-books, no other platform comes close to Amazon. More than two thirds (71.0%) of all Census respondents say they buy e-books regularly there—more than five times as many as do so from Apple’s iBookstore (13.4%). The next most popular platforms are Apple’s App Store (8.8%) and Kobo (8.8%). 

The shift in the handheld market is likely to continue. More than two in five (43.6%) Census respondents think most readers will transition from dedicated e-readers to tablets, with the rest thinking not (25%) or not sure (31.3%). But reading on phones—done by more than a third (34.5%) of respondents now—will increasingly rival both.

The full results of the FutureBook Digital Census will be available to all delegates attending the FutureBook Conference, which this year takes place on 14th November at the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre. The full programme is to be unveiled later today, with recent additions to the line up from YouTube, and WGSN.