iPad corners 22 percent of ebook market, iBooks gets iPhone version and PDF reader
Apple has just announced that the iPad has collected 22 percent of ebook sales since its launch and is about to get new features too. A PDF viewer is going to be thrown into the iBooks app later this month, and will be accompanied by new bookmarking and note-taking functionality. Yeah, they're basic enhancements at best, but we're still trying to wrap our minds around this idea that Apple is already responsible for nearly a quarter of all ebook sales. Then again, as Steve points out, a cool five million of the darn things have been downloaded in the first 65 days of the iPad's availability.
Update: Seems like even five mill ain't gonna be enough for Apple, which is set to massively expand its iBooks user base by bringing the app to iPhone and iPod touch users. You'll be getting the same note-taking, same bookmarking -- same everything -- just on a smaller screen, and at no extra charge. Users will be able to purchase a book on one device and then consume it across the full range of iDevices, with bookmarks and progress getting synced across the ether.
Update: Seems like even five mill ain't gonna be enough for Apple, which is set to massively expand its iBooks user base by bringing the app to iPhone and iPod touch users. You'll be getting the same note-taking, same bookmarking -- same everything -- just on a smaller screen, and at no extra charge. Users will be able to purchase a book on one device and then consume it across the full range of iDevices, with bookmarks and progress getting synced across the ether.
See? Apple and Adobe CAN live together (probably because Adobe invented multitouch)
@SteveyAyo
and PDF has been built into OS X for like 10 years, so this probably took them 20 minutes to implement
Mmmmmmm PDF.....
@pple
Ok this place looks deserted... looks like I need to join the liveblog
And BOOM goes the dynamite!
Here we go again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You're kidding. The iPad couldn't view PDFs before?
@Johnny Rockets
It could but not in the iBooks app!
@Johnny Rockets
Obviously you've been taking the ability to view pdfs for granted! Silly boy!
But yeah, for a supposed ebook reader, that a big omission, in classic Apple style though, it gets tacked on in updates to keep people on the bandwagon and stop products from becoming forgotten.
@Johnny Rockets
yes, but not in the ibooks app, which is à very nice way of reading texts
Lol at everyone who thought the iPad would fail.
@ustna Kindle had 80% of the ebook share in the same amount of time.
Anyone who falls for Shareholder ass kissing...well nevermind.
@SirNoDroin please remember that the kindle was one of the primary players. a fairer comparison would be having sth like amazon music/zune grab 22% of the legal music download industry in 2months from its release.
22% for the numbers of book downloaded and most of them are free ones?
@htd
A very impressive market share. But these are numbers for the US alone of course. Typically he left it out to say that. At a conference that has the word "worldwide" in its name.
@htd Is this for iBooks only or does this include ebooks downloaded from B&N; and Amazon on the ipad?
@Rick James
Your comment makes no sense. Would be weird if Apple only had a share of 22% of it's own book store, wouldn't it?
@SeeKo
Marketing.
too funny farmville is coming out. and NO FLASH required. Way to go Zynga. Awesome to prove a point. You don't need FLASH to do good games. My wife will kill me for playing it, but...well others can now enjoy it.
i think my dad will only listen to darth vader, he needs this!
Why Adobe gave Iphone PDF reader? they should not gave them anything to rebel against them.
I don't buy this figure at all considering the selection in iBooks is PITIFUL.
@malexandria1
Uh, but.. they sold 2m iPads.
@Wesscoast Actually, you are right, Of that 2 million a large percentage of people probably did buy at least one book. Question is will the growth continue or stall when people realize how pathetic the selection is.
@malexandria1 There were probably 10 demo books on each so they counted that as 200 million books sold.
@zole2112 What other demo books? Besides Poo? I did download all the free classics.
OMG a PDF Reader? For serious!?
"Publishers tell us that sales of there eBook sales are at 22% right now. 22% in iBooks. We're making some changes today -- notes, you can make notes right here, new bookmarks, and a new page displaying your notes and bookmarks."
22% of the publishers that support iBooks. I think this number is greatly misleading as:
1. 5 of the 6 major publishers are on the device, with the largest, Random House, missing.
2. Penguin stopped publishing to Kindle for 45 days. Pretty much the start of iPad's release. This could greatly favor the iPad for them.
I really think these numbers are pure bunk based on the above facts.
Oh dear....I see another engadget flood of Apple-posts on the horizon. Better start building that Ark...
....or just forget that engadget exists for a week or so.
@ragtag look back half a year for a post that had a way to view engadget w/o all the apple stuff, last time there was an apple explosion they added a feature that enabled engadget sans apple.
OMG you thought iPads couldn't read PDFs before, and have incorrectly assumed that this app's new feature confirms your previous misapprehension? For serious!?
21 sequential apple related articles including this one. Never change engadget.