4 ms·

Bezos ‘astonished’ by Kindle success

24 points by edw519 17y ago

stingraycharles 17y ago
This is marketing at its best. Consider the quote: "today, for titles that have a Kindle edition, Kindle book sales are 48 percent of the physical sales." That sounds really great: however, how much percent of the books have a Kindle edition ? In addition to that, more importantly, this is only within the Amazon audience: I bet a lot more Amazon customers fall into the eBook audience than the average audience of bookstores. But by stories like these, a lot of people will be made aware of the success of the eBooks, and will be afraid of missing out on something. However, over here in The Netherlands, some numbers were released today: 60,000 eBook sales in 2009. Compare that to the total of 50,000,000 books sold, and you can see eBooks still account for about 0.1% of the total book sales. Hardly comparable to the "48%" named in the article.
- puns 17y ago
  Out of interest, what's the source of the Netherlands statistics you've mentioned?
  - stingraycharles 17y ago
    Here is a dutch article: http://nos.nl/artikel/125693-60000-ebooks-verkocht-in-nederland.html http://nos.nl/artikel/125693-60000-ebooks-verkocht-in-nederl... And the translated version: http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=nl&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnos.nl%2Fartikel%2F125693-60000-ebooks-verkocht-in-nederland.html&sl=nl&tl=en http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&h...
- patio11 17y ago
  That sounds really great: however, how much percent of the books have a Kindle edition? I have heard this question asked rhetorically approximately 15 times and nobody ever seems to be willing to get their hands dirty. The New York Times bestseller lists both identify and anoint winners in the publishing markets, which are winners-take-most games where the head vastly outsells the tail. You can read them online. You can also search for books on Amazon. Combining these two processes in a revolutionary way produces the following: Fiction: The Lost Symbol (Dan Brown): KINDLE I, ALEX CROSS, by James Patterson: KINDLE UNDER THE DOME, by Stephen King -- no kindle THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett: KINDLE U IS FOR UNDERTOW, by Sue Grafton: KINDLE PIRATE LATITUDES, by Michael Crichton: KINDLE FORD COUNTY, by John Grisham -- no kindle THE LAST SONG, by Nicholas Sparks -- KINDLE THE CHRISTMAS SWEATER, by Glenn Beck et al -- no kindle THE LACUNA, by Barbara Kingsolver -- no kindle So, to a first approximation, I'm going to guess that in excess of 60% of titles sold in the United States weighted by sales have a Kindle edition available. Feel free to do the gruntwork for non-fiction. I think you will find pretty much the same,
  - defen 17y ago
    Minor nitpick - the Lacuna is actually on Kindle. Not sure about the other ones.
  - toisanji 17y ago
    unfortunately most of the books I have wanted are not available for the kindle.
- colinplamondon 17y ago
  Sure, but the international Kindle only went live in October or so- how's that number relevant in any way, shape, or form?
bshock 17y ago
I have to admit that I'm astonished by the Kindle's alleged success also. Apparently "working back from the customer," Mr. Bezos found that people were masochists and needed an inferior way of reading text. Want to find something in a print book? Flip the pages back and forth as fast as you like, or go to the index. On the Kindle? Flip a page and wait. Have lots of PDF files on your computer and want to read them somewhere else? With the Kindle, don't bother, for numerous reasons. Want to buy a book? Sorry, no such luck. You can rent a book that Amazon can take away from you whenever they feel like it, but that's it. Oh, of course, Amazon would never, ever take away something for which you paid. They promise. Until they decide otherwise. And how about the price? If I accidentally drop a paperback novel in the toilet or leave it on an airplane, what have I lost? Less than $10, usually. If I do the same with a Kindle, I'm really hurting. Maybe you have that kind of money to waste, but I don't. The end of print books? Mr. Bezos, I'll believe you when you show us how to end poverty. For everyone but yourself, that is.
slavingia 17y ago
It's easier marketing-wise to say you're "astonished" than "I knew it was going to be a huge success."
rykov 17y ago
Anybody else see a bit of irony in having Fake Steve Jobs interview Bezos about iSlate vs. Kindle?

24 points by edw519 17y ago

This is marketing at its best. Consider the quote: "today, for titles that have a Kindle edition, Kindle book sales are 48 percent of the physical sales." That sounds really great: however, how much percent of the books have a Kindle edition ? In addition to that, more importantly, this is only within the Amazon audience: I bet a lot more Amazon customers fall into the eBook audience than the average audience of bookstores. But by stories like these, a lot of people will be made aware of the success of the eBooks, and will be afraid of missing out on something. However, over here in The Netherlands, some numbers were released today: 60,000 eBook sales in 2009. Compare that to the total of 50,000,000 books sold, and you can see eBooks still account for about 0.1% of the total book sales. Hardly comparable to the "48%" named in the article.

puns 17y ago
Out of interest, what's the source of the Netherlands statistics you've mentioned?
- stingraycharles 17y ago
  Here is a dutch article: http://nos.nl/artikel/125693-60000-ebooks-verkocht-in-nederland.html http://nos.nl/artikel/125693-60000-ebooks-verkocht-in-nederl... And the translated version: http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=nl&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnos.nl%2Fartikel%2F125693-60000-ebooks-verkocht-in-nederland.html&sl=nl&tl=en http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&h...
patio11 17y ago
That sounds really great: however, how much percent of the books have a Kindle edition? I have heard this question asked rhetorically approximately 15 times and nobody ever seems to be willing to get their hands dirty. The New York Times bestseller lists both identify and anoint winners in the publishing markets, which are winners-take-most games where the head vastly outsells the tail. You can read them online. You can also search for books on Amazon. Combining these two processes in a revolutionary way produces the following: Fiction: The Lost Symbol (Dan Brown): KINDLE I, ALEX CROSS, by James Patterson: KINDLE UNDER THE DOME, by Stephen King -- no kindle THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett: KINDLE U IS FOR UNDERTOW, by Sue Grafton: KINDLE PIRATE LATITUDES, by Michael Crichton: KINDLE FORD COUNTY, by John Grisham -- no kindle THE LAST SONG, by Nicholas Sparks -- KINDLE THE CHRISTMAS SWEATER, by Glenn Beck et al -- no kindle THE LACUNA, by Barbara Kingsolver -- no kindle So, to a first approximation, I'm going to guess that in excess of 60% of titles sold in the United States weighted by sales have a Kindle edition available. Feel free to do the gruntwork for non-fiction. I think you will find pretty much the same,
- defen 17y ago
  Minor nitpick - the Lacuna is actually on Kindle. Not sure about the other ones.
- toisanji 17y ago
  unfortunately most of the books I have wanted are not available for the kindle.
colinplamondon 17y ago
Sure, but the international Kindle only went live in October or so- how's that number relevant in any way, shape, or form?

bshock 17y ago

I have to admit that I'm astonished by the Kindle's alleged success also. Apparently "working back from the customer," Mr. Bezos found that people were masochists and needed an inferior way of reading text. Want to find something in a print book? Flip the pages back and forth as fast as you like, or go to the index. On the Kindle? Flip a page and wait. Have lots of PDF files on your computer and want to read them somewhere else? With the Kindle, don't bother, for numerous reasons. Want to buy a book? Sorry, no such luck. You can rent a book that Amazon can take away from you whenever they feel like it, but that's it. Oh, of course, Amazon would never, ever take away something for which you paid. They promise. Until they decide otherwise. And how about the price? If I accidentally drop a paperback novel in the toilet or leave it on an airplane, what have I lost? Less than $10, usually. If I do the same with a Kindle, I'm really hurting. Maybe you have that kind of money to waste, but I don't. The end of print books? Mr. Bezos, I'll believe you when you show us how to end poverty. For everyone but yourself, that is.

slavingia 17y ago

It's easier marketing-wise to say you're "astonished" than "I knew it was going to be a huge success."

rykov 17y ago

Anybody else see a bit of irony in having Fake Steve Jobs interview Bezos about iSlate vs. Kindle?