iSuppli: Kindle Is To E-Books As iPod Was To MP3s

By Staff On Aug 18 2008 - 6:00am

On paper, e-books appear to be one of the next big things for displays, according to a recent iSuppli market forecast

Worldwide e-book display shipments will rise to 18.3 million units in 2012, increasing at a 161 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 150,000 units in 2007, iSuppli predicted. Global e-book display revenue is forecast to reach $291.2 million by 2012, rising at a CAGR of 143 percent from $3.5 million in 2007.

Content types such as books, textbooks, manuals and newspapers increasingly are becoming available in a digital format, according to iSupply, and this is helping to drive interest in portable electronic reading devices that are thin, lightweight and can last a long time on a single set of batteries.

Amazon.com's Kindle has proven there is a viable market for e-books with shipments expected to reach 1 million units in 2008, according to iSuppli.

"It's possible that Amazon's Kindle could do for e-books what Apple's iPod did for MP3 players," said Vinita Jakhanwal, principal analyst for mobile displays at iSuppli. "Indeed, there are indications that Kindle sales in the first quarter of 2008 surpassed its total sales for the entire year of 2007."

As iSuppli sees it, sales of e-books will be propelled by demand for the format from key markets such as education, consumer markets, professional segments, and government and military sectors.

For more about e-books and other emerging display applications, Jakhanwal's new report entitled: Electronic Books Drive New Applications for Displays is available at www.isuppli.com/catalog/detail.asp?id=9649.