Several studies on the continuing growth of the e-book market are observed to reveal that tablet computers and e-readers may put an end to real paper-based books.
The US Book Industry Study Group (BISG) found that nearly half of those who bought both print and digital books would abandon the hard copies for just the e-book versions. This is provided the e-books are released within three months of the physical version.
Juniper Research projected that e-books would account for $3.2 billion this year, and this figure would more than triple to $9.7 billion by 2016.
Much of the success of the e-book market can be attributed to the tablet and e-reader boom in 2010 and 2011, largely due to companies like Apple and Amazon.
Price appears to be a dominant factor in the move to e-books, with digital versions of a book costing a fraction of their real-world price. Normal paperbacks can cost several dollars to print. The price could rise even more for print-on-demand titles. Analysts at both Gartner and Creative Strategies believe that it is only a matter of time before e-books replace ink-and-paper books completely, though the shift might only apply to younger generations.
While e-books are certainly set to boom further, and will likely become the dominant form of reading, it is unlikely that traditional hard copies will die out altogether, it is felt. According to media reports, in many cases they will remain a collector's item.
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