Surging eBook Sales Help a Shrinking Random House Find Profit

PW: "Led by a 250% increase in e-book sales, strong lists and favorable exchange rates, total revenue at Random House rose 6.1%, to 1.83 billion euros ($2.57 billion at current exchange rates), while earnings before interest, taxes and special items jumped 26.3% to 173 million euros ($243 million). In addition to top line growth profits benefited from cost controls, parent company Bertelsmann said. Random ended 2010 with 168 fewer employees than in 2009. ... "

January E-book Sales Soar, Top Hardcover, Mass Market Paperback

PW: "The surge of e-book buying expected to take place in January following a round of holiday e-reader gift-giving did in fact materialize. According to preliminary estimates from the Association of American Publishers, e-book sales from 16 reporting companies jumped 115.8%, to $69.9 million in January. No other trade segment posted a sales increase in the month."

Bloomsbury sees ebook sales leap

Telegraph: " ... the listed publisher of Harry Potter, is on course to make around a quarter of its revenue from ebooks in 2011 following a 600pc uplift in like-for-like sales of digital titles in the first two months of this year."

E-commerce drives Q3 growth for Barnes & Noble

- Web accounted for 89.3%—$150 million—of all growth in the latest quarter, per Internet Retailer.

O'Reilly ebooks outsell print editions by more than 8 to 1

Pocket-lint: "Technology and computer book publisher O'Reilly has revealed that 88 per cent of its unit sales in 2010 were ebooks, with print editions and paid-for video taking up the other 12 per cent combined. In addition, 79 per cent of its dollar revenue was generated by digital versions of its titles."

AAP Reports the Obvious: eBooks Boosted Sales in 2010

PW: "The Association of American Publishers' domestic sales report for 2010 showed e-book sales jumping significantly from last year, rising 164.4%, with e-books bringing in $441 million at the 14 companies that reported sales, compared to $166.9 million in 2009. While all print categories were down slightly in 2010, children's/YA hardcover dropped the most, at 9.5%. The good news for reporting companies is that the significant growth in e-book sales was able to make up for the drops in print revenue, resulting in a 0.2% increase in combined print and e-book sales in 2010. E-book sales represented 8.3% of combined trade sales in 2010, up from 3.2% in 2009. E-book sales have jumped 623% since 2008, when sales from reporting companies were $61.3 million, a figure that represented about 1% of trade sales."

AAP Stats on Viral eBook Sales Growth

More good #s: "E-books grew a dramatic 164.8 percent in December 2010 vs the previous year ($49.5 Million vs $18.7M). In the AAP’s ninth year of tracking this category, E-books once again increased significantly on an annual basis, up 164.4 percent for 2010 vs 2009 ($441.3M vs $166.9M). E-book sales represented 8.32 percent of the trade book market in 2010 vs 3.20 percent the previous year. ... "

Yankee Group: eReader sales to reach $8.2 billion by 2014

Boston Globe: "Global sales of e-readers such as the Kindle are projected to reach $8.2 billion by 2014, according to a new report from Yankee Group, a Boston-based market research firm. That's up from 2010 sales of nearly $1.9 billion, or from about 11 million units last year to a projected 72 million in unit sales in 2014, Yankee Group said. And by 2014, the average retail price for an e-reader device should be $114, down from a 2010 average of $182, Yankee Group said. ... "

E-Book Sales Rise in Children’s and Young Adult Categories

NYTimes:

Something extraordinary happened after Eliana Litos received an e-reader for a Hanukkah gift in December.

“Some weeks I completely forgot about TV,” said Eliana, 11. “I went two weeks with only watching one show, or no shows at all. I was just reading every day.”

Ever since the holidays, publishers have noticed that some unusual titles have spiked in e-book sales. The “Chronicles of Narnia” series. “Hush, Hush.” The “Dork Diaries” series.

At HarperCollins, for example, e-books made up 25 percent of all young-adult sales in January, up from about 6 percent a year before — a boom in sales that quickly got the attention of publishers there. ...

Analysis: Amazon Positioned for 50% Overall Market Share by End of 2012

Stephen Windwalker, Seeking Alpha: "... the low-margins interpretation [of Amazon's performance] misses another, much more dramatic story. The big story is that in just three years Amazon has positioned itself to triple its overall share of the U.S. book business for all formats. Before the end of 2012, Amazon could own more than half of the U.S. book business across all formats. ... " I agree with the above analysis and that Amazon will continue to be a great story over time, but I think the stock has gotten way ahead of itself from a P/E point-of-view. No reflection on the company, however, or its strategy.

Ebook revolution accelerates in sales and status

Benedicte Page | Books | guardian: "The ebook revolution has swept past two more milestones in its ferocious advance upon the bastions of literary culture. As the Man Booker prize embraces the digital era, the online retail giant Amazon has announced that sales of Kindle editions have overtaken paperbacks in the US. ... "

Does Amazon Make Money on the Kindle?

Dan Gallagher - Digits - WSJ: "The Amazon Kindle is far and away the most popular of the dedicated e-reader devices on the market. But it remains unclear just how much profit – if any – the company is able to realize from the device and its associated e-books business. ... "

Amazon Kindle ebooks outsell paperbacks

Telegraph: "Amazon has revealed that it has sold more Kindle ebooks than paperbacks in the US during the final three months of 2010. ... " And the trend has continued thus far into 2011.

Amazon Revenue Misses, Shares Plunge

What did I write yesterday? WHO called it? WHO is the man? Reuters: "Amazon posted holiday quarterly revenue that fell short of analysts' estimates and forecast disappointing first-quarter operating margins on Thursday, and its shares fell almost 10 percent. Fourth-quarter revenue for the global online retailer was $12.95 billion. Analysts on average forecast $13.01 billion. Amazon's fourth-quarter operating profit margin was 3.7 versus 5.0 a year earlier, a sign of how much Amazon and other retailers had to discount to attract customers during the holidays, analysts said. ... "

"The End of the Beginning" re: Digital Transition in Book Publishing

Almost goes without saying: Jane Friedman once again the smartest person in the room @ Digital Book World. PW: "The CEOs agreed that they face many challenges, but said there are many opportunities as well. Jane Friedman, CEO of Open Road Integrated Media and former CEO of HarperCollins, said the industry is 'vitale and vibrant,' adding that at no point in her career as she seen such change and that things will never go back to the way they were. 'It’s the end of the beginning' of the digital transition, Friedman said."

Barclays Analyst: Amazon Will Likely Sell 12.3 Million Kindles This Year

San Fran Chronicle: "Amazon sold about 7.1 million Kindle e-readers last year, Barclays analyst Doug Anmuth estimates today in a note, and will sell 12.3 million this year. ('Though our numbers may still be conservative.') Kindle sales (devices and content) will reach $3.3 billion this year, almost 8% of Amazon's revenue, Anmuth estimates, and more than $7 billion in 2013, representing 11% of Amazon's revenue. ... "

eBook Sales Rise Nearly 130% in November

PW: "E-book sales in November rose 129.7%, to $46.6 million, from the 14 publishers who report results to the Association of American Publishers’ monthly sales report. The gain was below the year-to-date average which has e-book sales ahead 165.6% through November, but was better than the 112.4% increase reported in October when e-book sales were $40.7 million. The $165.6% increase in the first 11 months of 2010 put e-book sales from the 14 companies at $391.9 million. With one month to go in 2010, it looks like e-books and downloadable audio will be the only trade segments to posts gains in the year with sales down in all the print segments at the publishers that report to the AAP; the mass market segment has the largest decline at 14.0%." Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar bookstore sales posted their first monthly increase since January: 5.3%. Get the idea?

E Ink Does Well This Holiday Season

Amazon Kindle 3 and Kindle DX Review & News Blog: "It’s possible that this goes without saying, but the huge jump in sales of the Kindle has resulted in some major benefits for their screen producer, E Ink Holdings. E Ink, for those who are unfamiliar, is the company that currently drives the eReader market with its durable, low-power, highly readable displays, and is used on both Amazon’s offering as well as the original Barnes & Noble Nook. Projections regarding E Ink Holdings are indicating that the company is likely to post better than expected profits for the fourth quarter of 2010, in spite of the fact that earlier estimates already placed them at a 60% improvement over the previous quarter. Overall, it’s been a good year for them, it seems. Even better, for E Ink and for fans of eReaders in general, 2011 is looking like it will be anything but a plateau for the industry. Analysts are anticipating as many as 22 million sales this year, up from slightly fewer than 11 million in 2010. It only makes sense. Sales are up, prices are down, selections are only getting better, and people are starting to finally get over the idea that Tablet PCs will negatively affect the eReader market. E Ink themselves claim that one in ten consumers already have an eReading device, which is definitely a persuasive factor for many potential customers. A large user group, few of whom have complaints, means a reliable product, after all. ... "

Barnes & Noble Reports Online, Store Holiday Gains

PW: "After giving a preliminary report earlier this week about strong holiday gains, this morning Barnes & Noble gave a more detailed presentation, cited huge increases at Barnes & Noble.com and solid gains at its trade bookstores. While the increases were led by sales of Nookcolor and related digital products, B&N said that sales of physical books, especially hardcovers, exceeded expectations. Same store sales at B&N.com jumped 78% for the nine-week holiday period ended January 1 driven by sales of devices and e-books. Total sales at B&N.com rose 67% in the period, to $228.5 million. The company said it sold 'virtually its entire inventory of Nookcolor and E-Ink devices during the holiday season.'"

After Strong Holiday Sales for E-Readers, E-Books Outselling Print

NY Times: "Another sign of the success of e-readers and the changing publishing world: when USA Today publishes its first post-holiday bestseller list tomorrow, e-book versions of the top six titles will have outsold their respective print versions for the previous week. And of the top 50 books, 19 have higher digital than print sales. ... "