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Nook may have outsold Kindle; both outsold by iPad

updated 09:50 am EDT, Mon April 26, 2010

Nook shipments outstripping Kindle for first time


More of Barnes & Noble's Nook may have been sold in March than the Amazon Kindle, analysts said today. Checking with suppliers, Digitimes Research found that 53 percent of conventional e-readers shipped to the US last month were Nooks, leaving Amazon with only a minority stake. The exact numbers weren't given, but the larger market reached 1.43 million devices in the entire winter quarter.

Senior analyst Mingchi Kuo believed that the sudden swing was due to the Nook's relative novelty compared to the Kindle, which in its current form has been around since February of last year. Barnes & Noble has also had the advantage of its physical bookstores where, until the Kindle reached Target this weekend, Amazon had depended solely on Internet sales.

If accurate, the predictions could have Apple already making the top-selling e-reader device. It moved 500,000 iPads in its first 10 days of sales and may have already passed the one million unit mark, even with sales limited to the US. Only slightly more than a third intend to read e-books but, at current rates, would still be enough to give Apple a large portion of the e-reading business.


By Electronista Staff

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Amazon, industry, digital imaging, Kindle, Apple, Nook, iPad, Barnes and Noble

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Previous Comments

  1. joecab

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Apr 2004

    +2
    04/26, 10:05am | report spam | reply

    don;t think you can include iPads here yet

    I still don't think you can fairly compare these to iPads unil we know exactly what percentage of iPad owners buy books on them and how much they purchase. Nooks and Kindles are clearly bought primarily for reading ebooks; with iPads I tend to doubt it. Heck, technically you can read ebooks on iPhones (small as it is) too but there's no way anyone would even consider including those in this comparison.


  1. iphonerulez

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2008

    +2
    04/26, 10:23am | report spam | reply

    I don't think the iPad should be compared to

    eReaders, either. They' in a totally different class as far as versatility is concerned.


  1. lamewing

    Forum Regular

    Joined: Aug 2004

    -1
    04/26, 10:32am | report spam | (1 reply) | reply

    Agreed

    I bought an iPad and tried out the iBooks app. The selection is rather limited compared to either Amazon, Nook, or Sony eBooks. I am sure it will increase over time, but my reason for not using the iPad as an electronic book reader is that it is much heavier than my Nook (bought three days ago). I think the iPad will make an EXCELLENT digital textbook reader due to the color screen and the higher level of interaction that is capable with the iPad.

    An interesting article was published recently that showed the e-ink readers better for daytime reading, and the iPad as a better reader in darker rooms. The main part of the article that interested me was that there is indication that the intense light that comes from the iPad (increased by being held close to the face - compared to other devices such as a TV) can increase insomnia when used late at night. A certain chemical is released due to the exposure to the extra light which inhibits sleep.

    So...don't use the iPad (or something similar) to read late at night. :)


  1. cmoney

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Sep 2000

    +4
    04/26, 10:55am | report spam | (1 reply) | reply

    Bookstores matter more

    I've bought 5 books since I got the iPad. Except they were from the Kindle store. The iBookstore is one of the emptiest right now.

    One thing Kindle needs to do is improve the iPad app. Viewing pictures in books is rather subpar right now.

    Re: the insomnia bit: I've definitely developed it since getting the iPad. Turns out the ability to read in the dark without having to first turn on the light makes it infinitely more convenient than my older Sony ereader.


  1. Jonathan-Tanya

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Oct 2004

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    04/26, 01:26pm | report spam | reply

    iPad=heavy

    I bought the iPad on day one, its a lovely device.

    In fact, I am surprised at how much I use it.

    But I do not, and would not use it as a book reader, because it is HEAVY.

    Let me explain that concept this way: your laptop weights ZERO lbs, at least the way you use it.
    You set it down on the table, and your fingers are on top of the keyboard, holding nothing.

    With an e-book reader (or real paper book) your poor fingers are carrying the thing.

    The iPad becomes really weighty...far heavier, because of the form factor and the way you hold it, than any laptop or netbook ever invented...again, because you don't really carry those other devices on your fingers, do you get it now?

    Don't compare its 1lb weight, therefore to a laptop or netbook...compare its weight to a regular paper book.

    Enough said, the iPad is no e-reader.

    I still love it though, and I use it a lot. But I grab a book on my Kindle from time to time, along with still using paper books.


  1. Jonathan-Tanya

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Oct 2004

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    04/26, 01:34pm | report spam | reply

    transportation weight vs in-use weight

    ah, a better way to explain.

    Transporting your iPad, it is much lighter than a notebook. 1.5 lbs. vs 4lbs.

    But the 'in-use' weight of the device, the iPad is much heaver, 1.5 lbs. vs 0 lbs.

    That's because, real world scenario, your fingers hold the iPad while you use it as a book reader, - whereas the real world usage of a notebook, is its setting on the table, your fingers are resting above the keyboard, not holding the device.

    So you have iPad at 1.5lbs, Kindle at 10ozs, and many paperback books at even less. The iPad is heavy, and enough so, to actually be uncomfortable if you say, try to read a book for an hour.


  1. cmoney

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Sep 2000

    +2
    04/26, 02:06pm | report spam | reply

    iPad weight

    I get what you're saying but I guess it depends on how you typically read. When sitting down, I read with the book sitting in my lap or in a pillow. Same for the iPad, so it's resting just like a netbook/laptop. When reading in bed, it's either propped up by my knees or held vertical by my fingers while resting on the bunched up sheets.

    The only time I can imagine holding it with my fingers is when I'm standing up on the subway (though I've yet to be brave enough to do it).


  1. hamletsdead

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Feb 2010

    +1
    04/28, 09:26pm | report spam | reply

    iPad supplants them all

    I am a devout Kindle 1.0 user. The cracked casing from where I dropped it by the pool in Hawaii three years ago, the funny little screen, the annoying page tabs -- I love them all. I have about 150 novels on it, and have deleted about 150 more from it (after reading them) simply because the sorting function is terrible, and I use it every single day. Every BART commute, morning and night, sees me sitting in the second row with my Kindle in my hand. No more finishing my book 7 minutes into a 58 minute commute and staring at tunnel walls. Nope, not gonna happen.

    Given my patriotic attitude toward the Kindle, I was somewhat (well, openly) hostile to the Nook, but then I checked it out at Barnes & Noble while my wife browsed the crockery at Pottery Barn, and . . . it was pretty cool. Not cool-cool, not a show stopper, but pretty cool. If I had to flip a coin and choose a Nook or a Kindle, well, it would be a toss up. They're both okay.

    In my Kindle-philia, when Apple announced the iPad, I naturally donned my naysaying garb, and did a little badmouthing of the sacred apple before even laying my eyes on the iPad. This was reckless, I admit, and a little shameless, but I knew my one true complaint was going to be valid -- the screen, the beautiful screen, was a disgusting mass of fingerprints the second you picked it up, like the iPhone, but 10x worse. I saw the pictures on the web of the smeary greaseplate the iPad became when you powered down, and it was disgusting. No discussion necessary, just disgusting.

    So when I actually held an iPad in my hands several days ago, I was conflicted. Because it's beautiful. It is just as advertised, a useless thing of beauty, beautiful because no one needs one, yet there it is, slim and elegant and word made flesh. Have you looked at Alice in Wonderland on this thing? Or Wind in the Willows? Come on, they are FANTASTIC! The iPad is going to crush all the competition, throw the pretenders to the throne back into the murky swamps from whence they came, and march into the future singing Kumbaya with every 5th grader whose parents are foolish enough to believe that an iPad is just the thing to make little Johnny's brain grow. At a bare minimum, kids will read books on this like there is no tomorrow, just because it is so cool.

    As soon as they figure out some electro-static anti-fingerprint technology, I will join the iPad-heads on iPad Island, and we can all sit on the beach staring at our iPads in perfect harmony..


  1. Eldernorm

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Sep 2007

    -1
    06/21, 09:56am | report spam | reply

    Just a thought

    Please ignore the man behind the curtain. :-)

    The iPad will get no where in the book reading world. I tell you....

    Ignore that freight train heading for you..... its not here yet so it does not matter...

    Just stand right here on the tracks and ignore it.

    iPad..... 2 million sold in the first month..... iPhone 4. Sold out the first day of preorder at over 600,000 units.

    Yep, nothing to see here..... Keep your eyes glued on your Kindle or Nook.... Do not look up....

    LOL just a thought,
    en

    PS, e-book readers will not go away.... but the will become niche products.


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