Amazon controls the e-book market worldwide and sells the most e-readers and e-books. The company doesn’t rely on the Kindle e-reader to drive sales; most of its customers read on its apps for Android and iOS. Amazon holds a dominant 68% market share in global e-book sales, which rises to 83% when Kindle Unlimited is included. Regarding overall sales, E-books account for 21% of Amazon’s total book sales revenue, representing 36% of its total book sales. Amazon makes around 28 billion in total book sales worldwide.
There are 44 million e-books on Amazon globally and 20 million digital books in the United States alone. Publishers and self-published authors release 7,500 new e-books worldwide every single day. Amazon makes around 28 billion in total book sales worldwide. The UK e-book market is the second largest globally. E-books represent 34% of all book sales, with Amazon UK capturing 87.9% of the e-book market.
Regarding e-book readers, 70% of them sold globally are Amazon Kindles. According to Statista insights from the Consumer Insights Global survey, in September 2024, about 17% of consumers aged 30 to 49 belong to this group. Regarding the share of Americans who own an e-reader, 14% are 50 to 64 years old, followed by 11% (18 to 29 years).
However, according to Publish Drive, e-readers might be a dying breed. “Data collected concerning the e-reader market size shows a decrease from $396.4 million in 2021 to a presumed $204.7 million in 2027.
Here are some quick facts
- Amazon claims a 67% market share of digital book sales in the United States.
- Amazon sells approximately 300 million printed books annually, generating $28 billion worldwide.
- The most competitive book category on Amazon Kindle is contemporary romance.
- Books are Amazon’s most popular product category, with 57.2 million sales.
- Memoirs and biographies were crowned the top-selling genres on Amazon in 2022.
- Amazon’s share of the audiobook market is approximately 41%.
- Kindle Unlimited enjoys robust subscriptions with over 3 million members.