1 in 40 of British adults received e-reader as Christmas present
Research has found that 1.33 million e-readers were given as presents at Christmas, with 92% of these being Kindles.
According to the survey of 2,012 adults in Great Britain, carried out by YouGov 28 December 2011 and 3 January 2012, one in 40 received an e-reader – either as a gift to themselves or a present from someone else.
YouGov’s online research results were modelled by analysts in the technology and telecoms consulting team to represent the entire adult population of Great Britain.
Marek Vaygelt, head of technology and telecoms consulting at YouGov, said: “This is finally the year when the late-medieval technology of the printing press was challenged by a 21st Century, digital alternative. Amazon has done a remarkable job of selling the benefits of e-readers and the upside for the publishing industry is that it appears e-reader owners, at least in the early days, buy more e-books than the printed books they purchased before acquiring an e-reader.”
It was found that 61% of Kindles were received by women, with over 55 year olds twice as likely as 18-24 year olds to receive one.
The research also showed suggested that 640,000 tablets were gifted to adults, 72% of them Apple iPads. It was found that 60% of the Apple products were being gifted to women, while non-Apple-branded tablets were relatively more popular with men (53%).