Strong E-Book Reader Sales Likely To Continue In 2010

Electronic book readers have been available for quite some time now. The Franklin eBookman is generally considered to have been the first and launched in 1999, over a decade ago. Other readers slowly appeared - the Sony PRS launched in 2006 and the first Amazon Kindle hit the streets in November of 2007.

However, it wasn't until 2009 that e-book readers really took off in a big way. With absolutely no disrespect to Sony, much of the credit for this has to go to Amazon. The launch of the Kindle 2.0 in February 2009 backed up by the release of the larger DX reader in June caused quite a stir and established e-book readers as the hot gadget of the year. The Kindle quickly became Amazon's number one selling product and was the most gifted Amazon item ever over the 2009 festive period. Both Sony and Barnes and Noble had released new readers in time for the Christmas season, but uncertainty about delivery in time for Xmas, coupled with the Kindle's already established dominance meant that Amazon swept the boards.

At the moment there is no shortage of readers to choose from. The list of companies who are developing their own e-book readers is both long impressive. For the first time ever, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas in January 2010, had a separate section dedicated to e-book readers. All the signs are there that 2010 is going to be an even more successful year for e-book readers and we can probably expect to see sales continuing to grow rapidly.

What this represents, is the creation of a completely new market segment which, until very recently, simply wasn't there. Over and above the manufacturers of the e-book reader devices themselves, this represents a significant development for traditional book publishers, educational authorities, suppliers of accessories and, of course, the customers who read the books at the end of the process.

The sudden emergence of this market segment has been good news for companies such as M-Edge who manufacture a wide range of Kindle accessories including covers, reading lights, chargers and so on. There are plenty of other accessory suppliers who are also benefiting. At the moment, there is a strong focus on accessories for the Kindle, but as the market expands and other readers gain in popularity these will also offer good opportunities to the independents.

Still in its infancy, the e-book reader market is developing and expanding at an extremely rapid pace. Amazon has been hugely influential in the market's development and growth up to now. 2010 will see their current dominance challenged. Sony's second position - with a very healthy 35% market share - will also come under fire. There are plenty of opportunities for innovative companies to profit from the e-book reader gold rush in 2010.

Read more about the Amazon Kindle reader and see the full range of Kindle accessories available to help you personaliseyour Kindle.