Global Ebook Reader Sales May Be Up By 79.3%: Gartner Estimates 6.6 Million Sales in 2010

People might romanticize about the love of reading books in hard cover and paperback, but the rising trend in ebook reader sales tells another story. The leading information technology analyst firm, Gartner has predicted that the global sale of electronic ebook readers will reach up to 6.6 million units by the end of 2010. This will be a stupendous 79.3% rise from the earlier sales figures of 2009, which saw a sale of 3.6 million units worldwide.

North America has recorded the greatest number of ebook reader sales in 2010, with a share of 4 million units. With the launch of latest models like Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's Nook, Sony's Ebook Reader and Apple's iPad, the competition in the ebook reader sector is heating up by the day. As a Kindle vs Nook vs iPad comparison will reveal, Apple iPad may cut into the ebook reader sales quite substantially in the future. Gartner has further predicted that if demand continues to rise at this rate globally, we can expect the global ebook reader sales to reach the 11 million mark in 2011.

For online stores like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, who are in the business of selling ebooks, the launch of an ebook reader was a necessary step in boosting their sales. The USP of ebook reader lies in convenience. They make for mini digital libraries that you can carry around in your jacket pocket.

It is logistically simpler to carry around a single ebook reader, rather than moving around with a ton of hard cover books. It is a need of the digital age, where technology keeps evolving every day and new updates require the publishing of new books. With the ebook reader platform expanding, the demand for ebooks is expected to rise substantially.

We can expect price cuts in the near future by most of the major ebook reader manufacturers, if they want to compete with tablet computers like Apple iPad. Whatever be the sales scenario, as the ebook and tablet PC manufacturers enter a price war, it is clear that the consumer stands to gain in the near future!