Simba Information Reports 17% of U.S. Adults Read E-Books, but Only 11% Bought

From Simba Information (via TeleRead):

Publishing forecast firm Simba Information has released the highly anticipated fourth edition of its flagship Trade E-Book Publishing report series and estimates 17% of U.S. adults have read at least one e-book in 2011, up from the 11% who did so in 2010. In keeping with the report’s tradition of measuring the commitment individual adults have to e-books, the percentage of adults who bought e-books was shown to be 11% of adults — up from 9%.
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Some of the usual book consumption habits still remain. The report finds that about four times as many adults bought a paperback book compared to an e-book. The children’s and young adult (YA) market continues to lag behind the digital development of adult trade: the report shows about 23% of all adults bought at least one children’s/YA print book in 2011 while just 4% purchased a children’s or YA e-book.

Another finding in the device analysis was that more consumers have begun reading e-books through tablet devices, but not every tablet goes to a new reader. Findings in the report conclude one in 10 Kindle owners have updated their Kindles in the past three months — almost certainly to the new Kindle Fire. Additionally, 53% of iPad owners — up from 40% in last year’s report — do not use e-books at all.

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