E-reader sales figures are kept secret by the manufacturers (Kindle, Kobo, Pocketbook, etc.), but thanks to various industry figures, it is possible to make estimates of Kindle e-reader sales.
According to my estimates, Amazon will sell around 900,000 Kindle e-readers in 2023 in the USA alone.
First, let's look at the worldwide e-reader sales figures to estimate sales of Kindle e-readers and other brands. These figures are estimates and are published by Technavio (https://www.technavio.com/report/e-reader-market-industry-analysis).
The e-reader market is estimated at $20 billion for 2023.
While the study is not free, it does contain some interesting figures.
First of all, there's this graph showing the evolution of the e-reader market over time, with forecasts for the future:
The figure of a market worth around $15.6 billion for 2017 is also present.
With 5% average annual growth, we get a market worth $20 billion for the year 2023 (actually almost $21 billion, but I prefer to make a lower estimate).
But this figure seems too large to me, even if it concerns the whole world. In this other article, we learn that the US e-reader market is closer to $200 million: https://www.statista.com/topics/1488/e-readers/#topicOverview.
That's the figure we're going to use, so we're going to focus on the US market.
The Kindle e-reader range
There are different Kindle e-reader models available at different prices. Here is the current range of e-readers:
| Kindle Scribe | Kindle Oasis | Kindle Paperwhite | Kindle | |
| Image |  |  |  |  |
| Screen size | 10.2" | 7" | 6.8" | 6" |
| Resolution | 1860 x 2480 pixels | 1680 x 1264 pixels | 1680 x 1264 pixels | 1448 x 1072 pixels |
| Color | No | No | No | No |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Waterproof | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Storage | 16 - 64 GB | 8 - 32 GB | 8 - 32 GB | 16 GB |
| Pen / Stylus | Yes | No | No | No |
| SD card | No | No | No | No |
| Ebook formats | Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, MOBI unprotected, PRC ; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, EPUB (converted) | Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, MOBI unprotected, PRC ; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP converti, EPUB (converted) | Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, EPUB (converted), MOBI, PRC; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP | Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, EPUB, MOBI, PRC; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP |
| Blue light filter | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Other | Compatible with Microsoft Office Doc and Docx format (Word software) | Black or Blue color | ||
| Review | Expensive eReader with large screen. A device better suited for work as a note taking device ⭐⭐⭐ | Overall good eReader but too expensive now that there is better alternative in the Kindle lineup⭐⭐⭐ | Best value for the money Kindle eReader⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Very good ereader at a good price ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Link (where to buy?) | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com |
For the purposes of this article, I'm going to take the Kindle Scribe out of the equation, since it's a recent release and its price means that it's likely to sell far less than other Kindle e-readers.
The average price of a Kindle e-reader available for sale is around $179. This price does not take into account the various discounts that often apply (Mother's Day, Christmas or Prime Day).
I therefore prefer to take an average price of $150 to have a lower and more accurate estimate of the average price of a Kindle e-reader sold.
Kindle e-reader sales
Next, we need to know the market share of Kindle e-readers.
For this, we have studies on sales of digital books (ebooks): https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/e-book-market and https://wordsrated.com/amazon-publishing-statistics/
The figure that comes up most often is Amazon's 67% market share for digital book sales. But this figure includes sales of Apple and Google ebooks.
It seems more conservative to use the figure of 70% to 80% market share for Amazon in e-book sales for e-readers. We also assume that every reader and user of a Kindle, Kobo, iPad or Pocketbook reads the same number of books.
These figures give us an idea of Kindle sales.
The numbers are :
- 200 million for the global e-reader market in the USA
- Average price of a Kindle e-reader: $150
- 70% market share in digital reading for e-readers
- 67% market share in ebook sales
We therefore estimate sales of Kindle e-readers at around 900,000 for 2023.
This figure also only concerns the USA, and is obviously an estimate of Kindle sales.
But, according to the various studies I've been able to find, it seems to reflect reality fairly well, and the e-reader is still a device that appeals to many people.
