With the advent of e-books and Amazon's Kindle (NASDAQ: AMZN), many predicted that print book sales would decline into the foreseeable future. However, as time has passed, print book sales have risen while e-book sales have stagnated and even in some cases fallen.
In April 2016, the Codex Group's survey of 4,992 book buyers showed that the share of e-book units purchased, as a share out of the total books purchased in the United States, had decreased from 35.9% to 32.4% over the course of the past year. Penguin Random House, the number one book publisher in the world, has seen steadily growing revenue. This may seem puzzling, as many of the types of books that used to generate large amounts of revenue, atlases, dictionaries, encyclopedias, can now be found online at no charge. Yet there are some types of books, such as children's books and coffee table books, which are not easily converted into digital formats. Adult coloring books have also begun to occupy their own niche amongst book consumers. Furthermore, there are still fast-growing markets for print books (India is one example), and blockbuster novels, such as "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins and the "Fifty Shades" series by E L James are helping to keep the industry afloat.
The print book industry is highly international, including the United Kingdom's Pearson (NYSE: PSO), Canada's ThomasReuters, Germany's Wolters Kluwer, and China's Phoenix Publishing and Media Company as well as China South Publishing & Media Group Co., Ltd. Interestingly, the increasing rate of globalization may also lead to further increases in print book sales.
Yet there are a number of other factors that have led to the book industry's experience with digital sales being different from that of the music and video industries. Individuals are less likely to read novels off of screens, whether those screens be on their phones, their computers, their tablets, and so on, than they are to listen to music or watch videos on said screens. The aforementioned Codex survey also reported that 25% of book buyers are actively attempting to spend less time on their digital devices. Because they have the option to read books in print and not off of screens, customers are turning to print books over their e-book counterparts.
"Digital fatigue" is a common problem among customers that are between the age of 18 and 24, and many are seeking alternatives to digital devices whenever possible. As this younger generation ages, it will be interesting to see whether they return to using screens heavily or continue to opt for analog options whenever possible.