Selection of e-readers and e-books ever growing

By Peter Zschunke Sep 25, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Frankfurt - Printed books are in no danger of extinction due to the rise of e-books, but that doesn't mean e-books aren't well on their way to establishing themselves as a regular part of the market.

'North America might be two years ahead of us, so we need a little time to catch up,' says Nina Kreutzfeldt, who is setting up a German-language shop for the Canadian e-book seller Kobo. 'But we're watching some fascinating developments and I think it will get a little bit bigger already this year.'

When it comes to e-books and e-readers, the selection is increasingly growing, both in terms of content and delivery method. E-readers are also dropping in price.

Last year, at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the fight was over whether people would read books on e-readers, or switch to reading them on tablet computers, like Apple's iPad. Now experts are saying that both are being used for reading digital books.

'The market figures of which we are aware indicate co-existence for both categories,' says Per Dalheimer, the head of German e-book marketer Libri.de. 'You can read books no problem on the tablet, when you're at home, sitting on the couch or in bed. When you're underway or if you read a lot of e-books, then you might want to consider an e-reader, if for no other reason than for the long battery times.'

E-readers use e-ink display technology, which means text is displayed in high contrast on a matte, reader-friendly screen. There is no background lighting: If you want to read the e-book, you need daylight or artificial light, just like with a regular book. Energy is only needed for turning the page. That means the battery can go for weeks between charges.

Amazon's Kindle is one of the most popular e-readers. The standard 6-inch display version costs 139 euros (190 dollars). Combined with mobile communications capabilities, it costs 189 euros. Part of the marketing concept behind the Kindle is that customers pick the specific Kindle format they want.

Apple has also set up a system where the device and e-book store are closely linked. Its iPad pulls reading materials from the iBooks store.

Most other providers have opted for the EPUB standard format, which is linked to a copyright protection system from Adobe. Those include Sony, which is going to bring its PRS-T1 reader to markets in October, for 149 euros.

'We don't see any competition between e-readers and tablets, rather an extension,' says Fujio Noguchi, the Sony manager responsible for reading devices.

Dalheimer expects the price of e-readers to continue to decline: 'Last year, it cost 179 euros for a wi-fi reader. Now it's 139 euros. My estimate for next year is 99 euros.'

Since e-book prices are linked to those of published books, there's no way for e-book providers to wage direct price wars on that front. Nonetheless, Kreutzfeldt says e-books tend to be, on average, about 20 per cent cheaper than printed versions. They can even be cheaper in some countries, where tax is lower on electronic versions of books.