• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 3, 2011

According to media and publishing forecast firm Simba Information's "Trade E-Book Publishing 2011," 40% of iPad owners have not used the device to read a single e-book. And, owners of tablet devices do not make up the majority of e-book users, with 45% of survey respondents citing the PC or Mac as their e-reading device.

The survey also revealed a shift in demographic makeup of the e-book buyer from men to women during 2010, which brings the e-book format more in line with longtime trends in print books.

Michael Norris, senior analyst and author of the report, observes that "... a lot of people equate the sale of a new gadget with the creation of a new reader, and it just doesn't happen... in both the offline and online world, there are a lot of independent factors and distractions that will keep a person from discovering and enjoying a book."

Adult adoption of e-books kept pace with population growth in 2010, as 9% of U.S. adults bought at least one e-book that year, the same proportion as 2009, and 11% read at least one. Even though the number of new adults buying their first e-book didn't match the 6,000 estimated newcomers per day in 2009, the number of books bought by the average buyer ticked up slightly. However, according to the report, print books still rule the day with about five paperback book buyers for every one e-book buyer.

The report notes that demographic shifts occurred within the population of e-book buyers in 2010, with women outnumbering men, bringing the e-book format more in line with longtime trends in print books. The shift was a dramatic change from 2009, with 13% of men and 9% of women purchasing an e-book, and "e-book buyers shifting away from the disengaged and occasional buyer and towards consumers who are more committed to reading print and digital books in general," says Norris.

The study found, when studying the overall population of book buyers, that the presence of a very popular book can attract ‘occasional' or ‘disengaged' readers (i.e., bring someone to buy a book who hasn't bought one in years) but once the buying spree ends or the popularity of a bestseller fades, the overall reading population drops.

A review of bestselling e-books from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others finds a lot of similarities in terms of what people are buying, and the contrasts between e-book bestseller lists and print book bestseller lists are getting harder to see, as the most popular titles are released as a print version and a digital version simultaneously, notes the report.

The study found that 41% of respondents get (legitimately free as well as pirated e-books) from "free Web sites other than libraries." In addition, 24% borrowed e-books from a library while 16% borrowed e-books from a friend or relative.

As single-use devices continue to be challenged by multi-use tablets, e-books will be easier to pick up, but also easier to ignore in the face of infinite entertainment options that are often free, and usually demand less engagement from the consumer than a book does.

While it is not true that the sale of a new tablet means the creation of a new e-book reader, the devices have created a buzz in the children's segment as the color and interactive capabilities of the new devices have led publishers to create book/app hybrids to make titles ‘come alive.'

For more information from Simba about the study, and to obtain the complete "Trade E-Book Publishing 2011" with complete analysis and projections, please visit here.