E-Book: Evolution instead of disruption: – How will we read in the future? What trends are there in e-publishing, what new business models will ensure survival in the digital age? And, the key question: What does the customer want? One answer is the e-book. Firmly anchored in the market, but not with such a disruptive effect as predicted just a few years ago. Instead, sales and the number of buyers are growing continuously.
After all, the number of e-book buyers in Germany has risen by almost 50 percent in the last three years, according to the Federal Statistical Office. From January to September 2018, it increased by 1,6 percent to 3,1 million, according to the German Book Trade Association. The industry association sees digital reading material coming back after a period of stagnation. He estimates the current annual turnover at a good 200 million euros. A PwC forecast is optimistic that the e-book sector will grow by an average of 2022 percent per year until 12,8.
According to the digital association BITKOM, one in four Germans (25 percent) reads e-books now and then. His assessment: “E-books are among the few digital technologies that do not have a disruptive effect on an established market within a few years. Here we are experiencing a rare kind of peaceful coexistence between the traditional and the digital medium.”
Industry experts are also certain: trends such as blockchain or artificial intelligence make new business models possible and will continue to push e-publishing. On the agenda are, for example, subscription and download-to-own models, but also new developments such as affiliate and gamification concepts.
Interesting Links
ePublishing
https://medienwiki.org/index.php/E-Publishing
Federal Statistical Office on the subject of e-books
https://destatis.de/DE/PresseService/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2018/12/PD18_482_631.html
BITKOM study: E-books: peaceful coexistence instead of disruption in the book market
https://bitkom.org/Presse/Presseinformation/Friedliche-Koexistenz-statt-Disruption-im-Buchmarkt.html
Study by the stock exchange association of the German book trade on the German book market
https://boersenblatt.net/artikel-studie_des_boersenvereins.1422566.html