A new study by IHS iSuppli released this week suggested the "rapid rise of tablets is driving the e-book reader market to an equally rapid fall," CNET reported, citing predictions that shipments of e-book readers "will tumble 36% this year to 14.9 million units and then drop another 'drastic' 27% next year to 10.9 million units. By 2016, IHS iSuppli predicted the e-book reader market will total just 7.1 million units," down precipitously from 23.2 million in 2011.
Tablet sales will rise dramatically during this period, with the study anticipating that the "electronics industry should ship 120 million tablets this year and 340 million by 2016," CNET wrote.
But paidContent countered that while it is not surprising fewer people are buying dedicated e-readers, "it doesn't correlate that e-readers are going extinct. E-readers also have major benefits over tablets. They weigh a lot less, their battery life is much better and their screens are easier to read on. For avid readers, those are major benefits. Front-lit e-readers--the Kindle Paperwhite, Nook with GlowLight and Kobo Glo--are an evolution and an example of how e-readers can continue to get better without adding tablet-like functions. That said, it's not essential to replace an e-reader that often.... It's also clear (and obvious) that, for people who don't read much, a tablet is a better choice than an e-reader. But just as professional photographers aren't throwing out their SLRs for an iPhone, heavy readers won't swap their e-reader for a tablet--though they might own both."
