I've always loved E-readers like the Kindle and the Barnes and Nobel, I think they are great tools for book worms and academics, but I assumed that the majority of consumers would be more likely to splash out the cash for a full-blown tablet computer rather than an E-reader, after all a tablet can do everything, including displaying texts, the iPad even offers magazines and newspapers now. It seems however that I was wrong, according to research from Pew Internet; people are more likely to spend their spare cash on an E-reader (at least in the U.S.)
Apparently, whilst tablet sales have remained pretty much slow and steady, the E-reader has seen a huge surge in sales with the amount of people owning an E-reader doubling from November 2010 to May 2012. Following this shares in e-ink increased by 12%.
The research also suggested that E-readers are more common in affluent households and that the over 65 age group has shown disinterest towards both tablets and E-readers, not the most surprising statistics there then. The fact that E-readers are not just keeping up with tablets but doing better, is however quite a surprise, but how long can it last? At the moment tablets are still fairly expensive, (and that's just for a budget one) a good tablet is eye-wateringly expensive compared to the humbled Kindle. But when tablet prices drop and the technology in them is more suited for E-novels the E-reader will be a thing of the past.