Spare a thought for the humble hardback this Christmas. It seems the traditional gift-wrapped tome is being trumped by downloads, after Amazon customers bought more e-books than printed books for the first time on Christmas Day.
As people rushed to fill their freshly unwrapped e-readers — one of the top-selling gadgets this festive season — the online retailer said sales at its electronic bookstore quickly overtook orders for physical books.
Its own e-reader, the Kindle, is now the most popular gift in Amazon’s history.
On its peak day, December 14, the retailer said customers ordered more than 9.5 million items worldwide, the equivalent of a record-breaking 110 items a second.
The Seattle-based company’s top sellers in its home market included Apple’s iPod touch, Scrabble Slam Cards, Nintendo’s Wii Fit Plus with balance board, the latest Harry Potter DVD, Sarah Palin’s book Going Rogue and Susan Boyle’s album, I Dreamed a Dream.
After first taking off in the US, e-readers are becoming increasingly popular in the UK and the Kindle went on sale in Britain in mid-October.
Publisher Bloomsbury made the 2009 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack available as an e-book for the first time this year, while Penguin has been selling a range of its classics in electronic form.
{{/usCountry}}Publisher Bloomsbury made the 2009 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack available as an e-book for the first time this year, while Penguin has been selling a range of its classics in electronic form.
{{/usCountry}}The Guardian