Impact of the Apple iPad vs. the Amazon Kindle on the e-Reader Market

by Paul Carton | November 30, 2010 2:07 pm

The e-Reader market has essentially become a two horse race between the Amazon Kindle and the Apple iPad, according to ChangeWave’s latest survey of more than 2,800 consumers.

The Amazon Kindle (47%; down 15-pts) is hanging on to a rapidly diminishing lead over the Apple iPad (32%; up 16-pts) among current e-Reader owners. However, the iPad’s share of the overall market has doubled since the last time ChangeWave surveyed e-Reader owners in August.

The rest of the market includes the Sony Reader (5%) and the Barnes and Noble Nook (4%).

In terms of owner satisfaction ratings, here’s how the Apple iPad stacks up to the Amazon Kindle.

*Note: 2% of iPad owners and 3% of Kindle owners selected Don’t Know/NA

While both devices are highly rated, three-in-four iPad e-Reader owners (75%) say they are Very Satisfied with their device compared to 54% of Kindle e-Reader owners.

We also asked e-Reader owners about the types of content they’re reading on their devices — and found major differences between iPad and Kindle owners.

Which of the following types of content do you currently read with your eBook Reader? (Check All That Apply)

* Amazon Kindle owners are more likely to read books on their device (93%) than iPad owners (76%).

* But iPad owners are nearly five times more like to read Newspapers and Magazines than their Kindle counterparts, and 15 times more likely to read Blogs and News Feeds.

Before the iPad launch, Steve Jobs promised that a major effort would be made to develop alternative types of media on the Apple Tablet.  The survey evidence suggests Apple has been highly successful in this regard to date.

These results also lend credence to recent reports that News Corp. is developing a paid Apple iPad-centered newspaper, to be launched at the beginning of next year.

e-Reader Demand for the Holidays

Going forward, e-Reader demand remains strong for the holidays, with 5% of respondents saying they are Very Likely to buy an e-Reader and 10% Somewhat Likely over the next 90 days. 

For Amazon, this is a clear positive that will help drive growth for the Kindle over the holidays. Moreover, Amazon is among the handful of key retailers in ChangeWave’s latest Holiday Spending survey that are benefiting most from the overall increase in consumer spending.

That said, the ChangeWave survey shows the Apple iPad will be the biggest beneficiary of the expanding e-Reader market this holiday season.

The following chart shows the percentage of respondents who plan to buy an e-Reader in the next 90 days and who they’ll buy from:

Which of the following eBook Readers will you most likely buy?

The ChangeWave survey shows the Apple iPad (42%) will be the biggest beneficiary of the expanding e-Reader market this holiday season, followed by the Amazon Kindle (33%)

ChangeWave’s latest Consumer Electronics for the Holidays survey — completed November 8, 2010 — also focuses on the iPads impact on the overall Tablet market, including competition between Apple, Dell, Research in Motion, Samsung and H-P, among others.

Additional report details include:

• Overall consumer electronics spending and the hottest electronics items for the holidays
• Cannibalization of other electronic products due to Tablet momentum
• Preferred wireless service providers among iPad buyers — Verizon vs. AT&T
• Changes in consumer planned buying for laptops, desktops and Netbooks — and a look at demand for Apple (AAPL), Dell (DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) computers
• Spending trends for leading home entertainment retailers including Amazon (AMZN), Best Buy (BBY), Costco (COST), and Wal-Mart (WMT), among others

 

The complete ChangeWave report is available here[1].

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2010/11/apple-ipad-vs-amazon-kindle-e-reader-market/

---