FRAMINGHAM, MASS. —
The e-reader category
performed very well during the 2010 holiday
period, with 6 million units shipping worldwide,
according to IDC.
This almost equaled the yearly total of 12.8
million e-readers shipped worldwide in 2010. In
2009, 3 million e-readers shipped.
IDC credited the growth to increased awareness
of the devices due to the attention being
received by media tablets and the e-reader’s
low pricing.
Amazon maintained its dominant position,
with 48 percent of the market during the fourth
quarter and for the year overall.
Barnes & Noble managed to maintain its No.
2 ranking in the category for the year, with 12.9
percent of the market, but it was pushed into
third place in the fourth quarter by Pandigital,
which had a 13 percent share compared with
BN’s 12.5 percent. Pandigital was the third
largest shipper for the year, with 10 percent of
the market, according to the report.
Hanvon came in fourth place, while Sony
Reader’s shipments grew 81 percent during
the fourth quarter, to 800,000 units.
Half of Hanvon’s shipments took place in
China, and IDC noted the company struggled
outside that country when faced with the stiffer
competition presented by Amazon and the other
leaders.
