Waterstones is removing Kindles from stores

[rjcroy]

This is interesting. It follows another recent new report that paper book sales had increased by nearly 5% in the last year.

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/wa...-stores-313827

"“Sales of Kindles continue to be pitiful so we are taking the display space back in more and more shops...We’re not seeing a great deal of people who are buying an e-reader for the first time now,” he said. “People are buying e-reader replacements, but that’s it.”

I have been surprised by how few people around me have bought e-readers. It doesn't look like it will get beyond niche in the near future.

[GeoffR]

It is hardly surprising when you look at their bizarre strategy: sell ebooks only in ePub format, and stock only ereaders that can't read ePubs!

[rjcroy]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

It is hardly surprising when you look at their bizarre strategy: sell ebooks only in ePub format, and stock only ereaders that can't read ePubs!

LOL. Really!?
But it fits with my experience of e-readers in bookshops where I live; even those who sell epub readers with epub books

[Sweetpea]

I think the majority of people that read electronically also order electronically. And these days people read often on tablets and phones (now both are getting better, regarding screens and battery)

[Rizla]

I'm not sure the epub policy matters. Users who buy Kindles buy from Amazon. What this shows is that in the UK people have stopped buying e-readers.

What is probably a driving factor is that publisher savings on e-books are not being passed along to consumers. Why buy electronic when its the same price as paper? The only other factor is portability.

[DrNefario]

I imagine most people are e-reading on tablets and phones these days, and don't see the need for an eInk reader unless they already have one and are a convert.

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by Rizla

What this shows is that in the UK people have stopped buying e-readers.

Eh? Just because Waterstones have stopped selling Kindles doesn't mean that people aren't buying e-readers. Waterstones would be the last place I'd think to get one from - If I want a Kindle, I get it from Amazon; if undecided then I'd go somewhere like John Lewis who sell both Kindles and Kokos so I could compare.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Rizla

What is probably a driving factor is that publisher savings on e-books are not being passed along to consumers. Why buy electronic when its the same price as paper?

Because that's absolutely not the case. eBooks (on Amazon UK, at least) very rarely cost as much as two thirds of the price of the equivalent paperback. Often less than that. There are of course exceptions, but the overwhelming majority of Kindle books cost a lot less than the paperback.

[peterwardgd]

Yikes, you couldn't pay me to read on a phone or tablet again. I read A Wild sheep Chase on an iphone 4s! (i was desperate to finish it) and then from memory i read Out by Natsuo kirino on a Blackberry Playbook and gave myself eye strain.

Most people who buy ereaders in the uk would probably do so online i would think. (although i didn't from memory) Anyone who has seen the uncared for kobo display stand in any given Whsmith understands. People going into bookshops i would think are after books, actual real physical books and not tech.

I do still buy actual books, all be it always second hand and for peanuts.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Rizla

What is probably a driving factor is that publisher savings on e-books are not being passed along to consumers. Why buy electronic when its the same price as paper? The only other factor is portability.

While some ebook prices are too high for me, I find that I make great savings on my ebooks, by being able to wait for the books I want to be on special offer. My average purchase price this year is £1.15!

The other great advantage of ebooks (apart from portability) is that they don't talk up any shelf-space.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by peterwardgd

I do still buy actual books, all be it always second hand and for peanuts.

So do I, but not fiction. Very few of the books I need for my Egyptology degree are available as ebooks, and those I buy (by necessity) as paper books. Fiction is all ebooks, though, for me.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by Rizla

I'm not sure the epub policy matters. Users who buy Kindles buy from Amazon. What this shows is that in the UK people have stopped buying e-readers.

Aren't you being contradictory? People in the UK who buy ereaders rarely buy from Waterstones, that's the bottom line here. They buy from Amazon or probably John Lewis as they offer a free two year warranty. Anyone who walks into a bookshop is not looking for a ereader instead.

Also the partnership between Waterstones and Amazon was a divorce waiting to happen, it was a ridiculous partnership in the first place. Waterstones should have partnered with an epub ereader like Nook but then the Nook brand has even less of an idea of what they are doing than Waterstones.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

Also the partnership between Waterstones and Amazon was a divorce waiting to happen, it was a ridiculous partnership in the first place.

Not so ridiculous. Waterstones got a percentage from every sale of a book bought from Amazon through one of their Kindles.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by peterwardgd

Most people who buy ereaders in the uk would probably do so online i would think. (although i didn't from memory) Anyone who has seen the uncared for kobo display stand in any given Whsmith understands.

My recent Kobo Glo HD was bought from Argos (as was my H20 and my Voyage) but i did take a look at the display model in WHSmiths first, so their display stand was useful for that

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Not so ridiculous. Waterstones got a percentage from every sale of a book bought from Amazon through one of their Kindles.

It still seemed silly to me. At the time it spoke of desperation on Waterstones part to be 'relevant' what they failed to understand is that most people who go into a bookshop don't do it to get a ereader. When i go in with hubby he is looking at non fiction history books and I find a chair and get out my ereader. I never bother to look at the shelves, they don't sell the books I read anyway.