Another E-book Dip

  Another E-book Dip

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/retailing/article/65053-another-e-book-dip.html

I repeat below my comments on Linked In.

The Nielsen figures are starting to look very useful. I feel a little 
gratified that my early forecasts of ebook share [half, reduced to no 
more than a third some years ago] are being borne out, as also my 
recognition of the ebook sales dip arriving [recognisisng the meaning of 
the early slowing in growth].

These figures are still inadequate, as are any available in publishing. 
And we have no idea how big the hidden sales are, or what their 
distribution is. But they are from a large part of the industry and the 
detail offered is very descriptive. The changing balance of online 
retail is encouraging for "eggs and baskets" needs.

For the publishing industry the figures may show how slow the industry 
has been to respond to economic factors since the 2008 crash. Sales held 
up far better than might have been expected. This might have been due to 
enforced "leisure" time by redundancy and shorter hours. With jobs, and 
lower paid jobs, increasing, that leisure time is reduced.

Writers and publishers face a shrinking market, maybe for a while ahead. 
And this will be testing. But the continuing - even increasing - 
popularity of books, together with the (sort of) new format - ebooks - 
the industry is likely to face a bright future.

Joseph Harris