Apple's iPhone is quickly becoming the ebook reader of choice for many, and could steal market share from Amazon's Kindle, according to a report from market research firm Flurry.
The iPhone and iPod Touch turned into a popular handheld gaming platform over the last year, as most of the apps released for the devices were in the games category. Even Nintendo acknowledged that iPhone games were among the reasons its DS portable gaming machine under-performed in sales.
And now it appears it is the Amazon Kindle's turn to take a beating, as book applications for iPhone exceeded the popularity of games apps in the last four months, according the Flurry report. In September, iPhone books (some running on Kindle for iPhone) overtook games for the first time, while one in every five new apps in the App Store in October were books.
Flurry's chart below shows a surge in book apps for iPhone releases from July to October, with book apps overtaking game releases in September.
The analytics firm predicts that Apple could steal market share from Amazon's Kindle, as more publishers release new book apps for the iPhone at "record rates." Amazon did not disclose how many Kindle units it had sold, however, Forrester research estimates that three million e-readers will be sold in the United States in 2009.
There are over 57 million iPhone and iPod Touch users worldwide. The Kindle is vastly outnumbered by Apple's touchscreen devices, despite the iPhone having a significantly smaller screen than Amazon's Kindle (6 inches). This makes the iPhone platform a larger gateway for book publishers.
Apple's widely speculated upcoming tablet, yet unconfirmed, could also pose a future threat for the already crowded ebook reader market by the likes of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Sony.
Read the original posting here http://www.pcworld.com/article/181142/iphone_as_an_ebook_reader_threatens_kindle_says_report.html?tk=nl_dnx_h_crawl
"iPhone as an eBook Reader Threatens Kindle, Says Report" Comments
"iPhone as an eBook Reader Threatens Kindle, Says Report" Comments
nonseq says: Mon Nov 02 06:09:54 PST 2009
I use my iPod Touch as a e-reader for Kindle and other formats and really really like it. I like it so much that I would not entertain getting a Kindle or other dedicated device. I am hopeful that an Apple tablet may actually be in the offing and if so, would buy one for that purpose.
Neither device should be too much of a threat to Amazon or Barnes & Noble or others as their profits will derive primarily from the sale of e-books and not hardware.
I use my iPod Touch as a e-reader for Kindle and other formats and really really like it. I like it so much that I would not entertain getting a Kindle or other dedicated device. I am hopeful that an Apple tablet may actually be in the offing and if so, would buy one for that purpose.
Neither device should be too much of a threat to Amazon or Barnes & Noble or others as their profits will derive primarily from the sale of e-books and not hardware.
DebbieTT says: I'm afraid the iphone is going to change forever, the way we use: cell phones, GSPs, Kindle, books, the Internet, laptop computers, wi-fi, and other things we haven't even thought about yet. The iphone is 1 pretty amazing $99 device.
lutra says: Threatens Kindle? Well, I didn't buy a Kindle, that's for sure, but I did get the Kindle application for my iPhone. I've actually bought several books for it already and I really enjoy reading them on my iPhone. It's surprising how little battery usage it takes up. Honestly, using this kind of thing on a smartphone is going to be the way of the future for a lot of us. Why carry around a separate device when you can just use the phone you'll always have with you? So maybe the Kindle device itself is in danger, but Amazon can use existing technology to expand the department it created by introducing the device to us.
slayman says:
you dont have a clue what ebook readers are about. It isnt about having a portable device - people have been reading on their cellphones for, like, ever. With memory cards, you can carry thousands of ebooks on a phone/PMP.
ebook readers are about the display. All those cellphones and PMPs have (besides their puny displays and hours of battery life) have glare. If you have read on them for 30 minutes, you will have terrible eye strain. The ebook readers have (besides bigger, paper book size displays and days of battery life) no-glare, paper-like displays which is as easy on the eye as real paper, allowing one to read for hours without eye strain. Read the rest of the comments by clicking above at the original link above
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