Magazines on E-paper E-reader Displays 'Approaching the Tipping Point,' Says Expert
November 6, 2009 By Erica Cunningham2. Be fully ingrained in the repurposing of content so that it fits on any screen, including e-readers. This is just as valid today with digital magazines on a PC as it will be with e-readers.
3. Be ready to distribute content on e-readers (and separately tablet devices like the rumored Apple Tablet) within the next 24 months. The nature of this technology and the power of reading paginated content in an enabling digital context will help to continue the rapid growth and development of this market.
INBOX: What are some of the most effective uses of e-paper e-readers in publishing today? What seems to resonate with consumers?
HAMPSHIRE: Undoubtedly what resonates most with the consumer today is books, and e-book editions are starting to outsell their print equivalents. It is the ability to instantly buy an e-book, to be able to store and carry a whole library in a single portable device, to take notes, increase text size, look up definitions, bookmark pages, but above all it has been the arrival of e-paper display technology with its paper-like reading quality in ambient light that has been the real attraction.
Magazine publishers need to stop believing that the e-reader "threat" is still far away and have to start realizing that this future is rushing toward them at great speed. In 2012, we will see the first real high-quality color "magazine" e-readers with magazine-size displays.
INBOX: How do you see e-paper e-readers influencing publishing in a decade's time?
HAMPSHIRE: With the arrival of high-quality color, low cost, large-screen e-readers within the next few years, we are looking at these devices becoming as ubiquitous as today's cell phone. Whilst people will still be buying and reading content printed on paper in 2020, the bulk of the market for magazine content will be for digital publications primarily viewed on reading devices.
INBOX: The emergence of e-readers (in use and design) seems to have been a relatively slow but steady progression. Is there a possible tipping point for adoption of the technology?
HAMPSHIRE: The market for e-paper e-readers is no longer growing at a snail's pace. We are approaching the tipping point for magazines but are in the midst of it for books. New manufacturers are announcing products on an almost weekly basis. Investments made over the last couple of years, in both e-paper displays and e-readers are now entering production, and new display technologies are about to appear. Unit prices are dropping fast, and should hit the $150 mark in 2011. In 2010, we will see e-paper e-reader sales in excess of 6 million units, up from this year's figure of 2.5 million. This is the beginning of a rapid growth period which will see over 446 million units being produced and sold in 2020.
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