It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. Amazon announced Thursday that Kindle books have now begun outselling their physical print counterparts.
“Less than four years after introducing Kindle books,” the online retail giant says, “Amazon.com customers are now purchasing more Kindle books than all print books – hardcover and paperback – combined.
As an author with both phsyical and electronic books in print, my royalty earnings statements reflect this newfound reality. Incredibly, ebooks have become so popular that every genre of print books has begun to lose ground even among the most avid readers.
Since April 1, 2011, for every 100 print books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 105 Kindle books.
“Customers are now choosing Kindle books more often than print books. We had high hopes that this would happen eventually, but we never imagined it would happen this quickly – we’ve been selling print books for 15 years and Kindle books for less than four years,” said Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO, Amazon.com.
Amazon has sold 300% more Kindle books so far in 2011 than it did during the same period in 2010.
“In addition, we’re excited by the response to Kindle with Special Offers for only $114, which has quickly become the bestselling member of the Kindle family,” Bezos added, taking advantage of this perfect opportunity for further product promotion.
“We’re grateful to our customers for continuing to make Kindle the bestselling e-reader in the world and the Kindle Store the most popular e-bookstore in the world,” he concluded.
