A survey conducted by Aris to ascertain the pattern of ebook proliferation in Germany has brought to light some interesting facts. For instance, 21 percent of the German population have ever read an ebook. The above rate is least surprising considering about three-fourth of the German population reads books. However, the majority at 77 percent of those polled said they read the ebooks on their PCs, notebooks, or netbook devices, while a sizeable 58 percent read them on their smartphones. About 21 percent and 18 percent of the ebook readers claim tablet or e-reader devices as their preferred device for reading ebooks, respectively.
What the survey also revealed is that the younger generation has shown greater affinity towards ebooks, though there is no difference between the sexes when it comes to reading ebooks. Twenty-one percent of females read ebooks, compared to 22 percent of males. From the age perspective, 12 percent above the age of 65 read ebooks. Between the ages of 50 and 64, 19 percent read ebooks, though 25 percent and 26 percent read ebooks in the age group of 14-29 years and 30-49 years, respectively.
As for their buying trends, 62 percent claim to source their ebooks from online stores, while 18 percent procure them from the shops affiliated with their specific devices. A miniscule 8 percent said they prefer buying directly from the author, while an even smaller 6 percent buy them from publishers. Fifteen percent of the readers said they borrow ebooks from public lenders, while 17 percent get them from libraries. The proportion of those who read free ebooks stands at 15 percent.
All of the above facts present a lot of scope for growth in Germany where ebooks were once demonized. Publishers made sure there weren’t enough takers for ebooks by pricing them higher than their printed counterparts. Almost a quarter of those polled said they read printed books now but wish to switch over to ebooks in future.
The survey conducted by Aris is on behalf of ICT group Bitkom and involved 2,528 respondents of which 539 have taken to reading ebooks.
Source: Good eReader
By Sovan Mandal
