Making the learning process more interactive and engaging, eBooks provide diverse benefits when compared to printed books. They allow readers to enjoy any number of books on devices such as tablets, smartphones, laptops and desktops. Most authors and publishers rely on professional eBook conversion services to convert physical books into digital format. The American Association of Publishers, which represents mostly main stream consumer book publishers, reported in August 2021 that eBook sales accounted for 13.7% of sales revenue among their members.
According to a research report from Market Intelligence Data, the global e-book market was valued at USD 18.13 billion in 2022 and it is expected to reach USD 23.12 billion by 2027. The market is expected to register a CAGR of 4.9% during the forecast period 2022-2027. Reader engagement is one of the key factors driving market growth of e-books during the forecast period. Other key factors that are expected to drive the global eBook market growth include:
- Technical development and state-of-the-art reading devices that provide an experience similar to reading an actual book
- Increased use of electronic devices
- Multilingual features of E-books
- Environment protection campaigns to save trees by reducing the use of paper
Libraries and publishers are increasingly receiving good responses for e-books which is also fuelling the growth of eBooks. For instance, Hachette Book Group, one of the big publishers, has announced that in 2019 the publishing company generated EUR 2.38 billion, which is a 5% increase since 2018. Easy access for a wide range of e-book libraries through application or online services and services such as e-lending has also supported the adoption of e-books across the globe.
When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, libraries began offering electronic reading materials and this emerged as a major factor driving global eBook market growth. Moreover due to decreasing cost of the e-books, libraries are now able to buy more copies of the e-books, which is also a factor that aids the market’s growth.
The rise in number of portable readable devices – such as smartphones and tablets – is considered as one of the major reasons for the growth of the global e-book market. Due to the susceptibility of physical books to wear and tear and high prices, consumers are turning to e-books over physical books.
The global e-book market is fragmented with many independent authors and publishers, while certain players account for a majority share in the market. Some of the major e-book market vendors discussed in this report include Amazon.com, Inc., Rakuten Kobo Inc., Apple Inc., Barnes and Noble LLC, Smashwords, Inc, Blurb Inc., BookBaby (DIY Media Group, Inc.), Lulu Press, Inc., Macmillan Publishers Ltd., and Scribd Inc. Among these vendors Amazon’s KDP and Apple’s iBooks Author hold a dominant share in the global e-books market. To gain higher market shares, the key players in the market adopt strategies such as joint-ventures and partnerships with small and regional publishers.
The market report is segmented on geography basis which includes regions such as North America (United States, Canada), Europe (Spain, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Rest of Europe (Sweden, Denmark), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Rest of Asia-Pacific (Australia, South Korea, Singapore), Latin America and Middle East & Africa.
Among these regions, North America dominates the market, because, eBooks in North America came early as a natural and permanent choice over printed books for consumers when they want speedy access, and portability. While US consumers are more likely to adopt the digital technology for their reading activities, German population is also seen increasingly using electronic devices for reading purposes. As a result, a surge in tablet and e-reader ownership levels were witnessed which are more prominent in the e-reading scenario.
When it comes to devices, a spike in the ownership of both tablet computers and e-book reading devices such as the original Kindles during the gift-giving season were also witnessed. The constant redefining and expanding new concepts of books made publishers to rapidly respond to the consumers’ fast-growing acceptance of new reading devices.
In addition, the increasing demand for digitalized comic books also projected to drive the market in the region. This made comic book publishers such as DC Entertainment and MARVEL expand their portfolio to follow this trend. Also, the report notes that in late 2019, the American Library Association (ALA) and Public Library Association (PLA) announced a public campaign in response to recent efforts to limit library access to e-books. During the 2019 Digital Book World conference, ALA debuted an online petition at eBooksForAll.org for members of the public to urge Macmillan Publishers to reverse the proposed embargo on e-books sold to libraries.
From this market report, we can assume that in eBook conversions would witness a surge. With their convenience, cost-effectiveness and easy handling, eBooks are growing in popular. Though readers can access any eBook from anywhere, not all formats work on all devices. To make it more accessible, you may have to convert your eBook format that is accessible on your device. With many eBook formats available in the market -such as PDF, PDB, RTF, HTML, MOBI, FB2, EPUB, TXT, Plain text, Doc, LIT, and more – you can eBook conversion tools to make the conversion process easier and improve the reading experience. Experienced eBook conversion companies scan and digitize printed books and also convert e-books from one electronic format to other.
