Quick Link | Kobo Rides the Shockwave of Interest in E-books: Tech News and Analysis «

Interesting stats on users and the time it has taken to acquire them.

“It took us 10 months to get to a million users, and about 90 days to get to 2 million,” CEO Michael Serbinis said in a recent interview. “Getting to 3 million took about 60 days, and we are close to 4 million now.” Kobo — which is majority-owned by Canadian bookseller Indigo Books — was launched in late 2009, and is now the number three player in most of the major markets it participates in, Serbinis said. The company recently closed a new $50-million round of financing.

via Kobo Rides the Shockwave of Interest in E-books: Tech News and Analysis «.

When Readers Decide

It is becoming hard to avoid the conclusion that a large portion of the reading public has decided they like ereaders and digital books, or at least that they are willing to give them a try.

With Amazon, B&N and now Indigo saying that ereaders are their hottest product and with Asda selling a £52 basic ereader in the UK where Waterstone’s were already offering options below £100.

It is hard to see ereaders staying above £50 this Christmas, perhaps I’m wrong but if Asda are in the game for real and they start to shift units, we’ll see some kind of price response from others. That will drive further sales and more results like these:

Revenue for the quarter was $387.6 million, up $47.4 million from last year driven by strong growth in the company’s digital business.  On a comparable store basis, Indigo and Chapters superstores posted a 2.6% increase in revenue, while Coles and Indigo Spirit small format stores were down 0.8%.  Sales from Indigos online channel, chapters.indigo.ca, were up 6.5% compared to last year.

Commenting on the results, CEO Heather Reisman said, “We are pleased with our top line revenue growth, particularly in our rapidly growing digital business.  Kobo eReaders were the hottest items in our stores over the holidays. Consumers have also responded very favourably to our broader gift and toy selection and reinforced our decision to continue expanding these categories.”

via INDIGO BOOKS & MUSIC INC. | Indigo Q3 Revenue Up 14%.

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