Are eBook Sales Reaching a Plateau?

The once-exploding sales growth of eBooks has slowed dramatically, according to research from RR Bowker. “We went from exponential to incremental growth,” said Kelly Gallagher, a Bowker vice president, who also referred to "some level of saturation" in the U.S. market. The breathless predictions of two years ago, which suggested that the growth of eBooks would soon shut down all the book printing presses and brick-and-mortar bookstores, turned out to be way off the mark.

The proportion of book buyers who bought an eBook rose from 17% late last year to only 20% in January, according to Bowker’s research.