The popularity of the Amazon Kindle and other e-book readers cannot be ignored, but the smartphones may become the industry's biggest player in the future.
A growing number of users are finding their RIM BlackBerry, Apple iPhone, and other smartphones serve as a good e-book reader without the need of an expensive, bulky standalone e-book reader.
Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps noted that the e-book market received a boost from the Kindle, e-reading apps for smartphone downloads outnumber overall Kindle sales. For example, the Stanza app designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch has been downloaded more than 2 million times since 2008, while Forrester believes 900,000 Kindles have been sold since release.
"There will be a market for dedicated reading devices, but there's potentially an even bigger market for reading on devices that people already own, like smart phones," said Rottman Epps, who spoke with the Associated Press.
I'm not surprised to see downloads compared to sales numbers, but it's worth noting that reading e-books on both formats have pros and cons. Reading on a smartphone, which is nice because most people always carry their phones, a small screen size and sometimes lower resolution hinders e-reading on smartphones.
But the Kindle, which offers a large, clear screen to look at while reading, is expensive and bulky -- and people who spontaneously decide to read likely won't have their e-book reader with them.
Do you currently read e-books on your smartphone? If not, then why not?
