Digital book sales continue to soar in Germany and in 2017 29.1 million titles were sold, which is an increase of 3.9%. The actual revenue derived from e-books fell slightly by 1.4%, this is primarily attributed to readers spending less money. The average price people paid for an ebook was €6.38 and the amount of people purchasing them has declined by 7.7%.
What is interesting about the German ebook market is that less people are buying them, but the ones who do, spend more money. The publishing industry is trying to figure out how they can appeal to a broader demographic, instead of a declining base of core users. If less people are buying ebooks in 2017 than the year prior, will 2018 see even less people buying them and will revenue start to level off?
The market is primarily dominated by Kobo owned Tolino and Amazon. There are not many local players that have gained any traction or have developed alternative revenue models, such as unlimited subscription services.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
