I love the Apple ecosystem. It’s not perfect, and the gap between it and the Google alternative isn’t as great as it used to be, but to my mind it’s still by far the best solution for anyone looking to have all their data and content available across both desktop and mobile devices.
But there’s one notable gap in my own use of the Apple system: books. Despite the fact that my iPad is my primary ebook reader, I still use the Kindle app and buy my books from Amazon rather than Apple …
That’s largely historical accident. As a very early adopter of ebooks (who’d have thunk it?), I bought the very first Kindle and it was love at first sight. For someone who loves to read, and typically has more than one book on the go at any given time, the ability to carry hundreds of books around with me wherever I went – and in a device so small and light I scarcely noticed its presence in a bag – was a dream.
As soon as I started carrying an iPad everywhere with me, it seemed silly to carry two tablet-style devices, so at that point I switched to using my iPad as my ebook reader. But with hundreds of books in the Kindle format, and no reason to convert them, I stuck with Amazon for my purchases.
I’m far from alone in this, of course: Kindle remains the dominant ebook platform. But to see some of the numbers that have been floating around over the past year or so, you might think it’s only a matter of time before iBooks overtakes Kindle.
A UK study found that 50% of ebook readers used Kindle while 31% used iBooks. A US study last summer suggested that in the 18-24 age-range, iBooks was now just 2% behind Kindle. In January, Apple’s iBooks head Keith Moerer said that the store had averaged a million new customers a week since the launch of iOS 8 and Yosemite.
As a reader, I’d idly wondered whether iBooks really could be gaining ground at such a rapid pace. My circle of friends includes a lot of avid readers, and a lot of iDevice owners too, yet almost everyone I know buys from Amazon rather than Apple.
But publishing my own technothriller novels (11/9 and The Billion Dollar Heist – thanks for asking) was the first time when my skepticism seemed to be backed by some hard data. Both books were available on Amazon, iBooks, Nook and Kobo – and sales data allow me to see exactly where my sales are coming from. The results were interesting, to say the least:
- Amazon: 92%
- iBooks: 7%
- Nook: <1%
- Kobo: Zero sales
Given that I write a lot about Apple, and most of my Twitter followers probably discovered me through a link to an article on 9to5Mac, it’s a pretty safe bet that my readers and followers comprise a higher than average proportion of Apple owners. So I have to think that 7% is higher than for the average author out there.
So, both my anecdotal experience of friends, and some hard sales data for a couple of novels, suggests that iBooks is a lot further behind Kindle than some of the more general numbers might suggest. How to explain this?
I think the answer may be in the fact that users, customers and sales may be three very different things. iBooks now comes installed as standard on Macs, iPhones and iPads. Anyone who ever opens up the app to read part of a single book may be counted as a ‘user.’ I also rather suspect that Apple’s ‘customer’ numbers include anyone who has downloaded a book from iBooks, free or paid.
But even if customers are people who have paid for books, if your average iBooks customer buys one book a year and your average Kindle customer buys 13 books a year, there’s your 7%/92% split. So my suspicion is that even if iBooks is doing ok on the user and customer front, Kindle is still probably well ahead on sales.
And a recent change to Amazon’s payment to authors for books borrowed by Prime and Kindle Unlimited members means that iBooks may be left even further behind. Amazon now pays authors per page read of the books members borrow. For longer books like mine, it looks likely that the revenue from lending – which requires ebooks to be exclusive to Amazon – would significantly outweigh the sales revenue from iBooks. Which was the reason I was studying the numbers in the first place: making the decision to pull my books from iBooks, Nook and Kobo.
Do you buy ebooks from iBooks, Kindle or elsewhere? Recognizing that some may buy from more than one source, please tick the one that represents the majority of your purchases, only going for the ‘Even split’ option if the split is close to 50/50. As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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The only reason why I have ever used iBooks is that a PDF file I downloaded and wanted to open forced me to go that route.
Why? Email the PDF to your Kindle library.
I avoid Amazon and Kindle, don’t like them and never will.
Why? Better selection on Amazon, better ereader. Is it simply because of the DoJ issue versus Apple? If so, time to move on with your life.
iBooks for me is simply not worth it. There no iBook client on Android, windows, etc. This is why I’ll never go with iBook.
Also… Audible. The sync between books and audio is amazing. I want to like iBooks, but there is nothing that Apple has that compares to this feature.
This is EXACTLY why I started back with ebooks…I love to read, but not enough time, however, the whispersync is amazing.
Apple would have done well to partner with Amazon on all of this…I don’t care for Amazon’s business practices, but damn…they know ebooks better than anyone else.
Yes, that’s a compelling feature. I usually buy my books on iBooks, but if I anticipate that I might list to part of it, I’ll use the Kindle app instead. (It’s also really nice that Amazon/Audile discounts the audiobook if you also get the matching ebook).
You can avoid them all you want, but you’re only hurting yourself. Kindle is by far the best ebook platform out there.
iBooks certainly has issues, one of which is price. “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” by Thomas Piketty is $39.99 on iBooks and $22.99 on Amazon. I don’t pretend to know exactly why that is, though I suspect the DoJ case against Apple pertaining to iBooks. Regardless of reason, it poses a huge problem.
Main reason for “not iBooks” is lack of EInk reader.
I’m an author and I get the breakdown of sales between iBooks and Kindle. I definitely sell more books on Kindle, but my earnings on iBooks in the last year or so has taken them from my #3, sometimes #4 vendor to very solidly in the #2 slot, going from what I would have estimated as about 5% of market share in 2013 to about 15% today. It’s been a pretty big increase.
These are, of course, one author’s numbers and so there are a ton of confounding factors, but I’ve heard similar tales from everyone who is writing things that aren’t classified as erotic. (iBooks tends to bury erotic stuff and so there’s very little discoverability.)
I would also say that a tiny percent of that increase at best came at the expense of Amazon, and the rest is people leaving Barnes and Noble/Nook.
Thanks for sharing that data, Courtney – I’ve been trying to collate data from other authors but haven’t had much response.
Very interesting take. Exposes some questions though.
It’s ok for Amazon to do things like the lending library for exclusive deals, and that isn’t anti-competitive? But if Apple was to do this? It would be abusing their “position”
Yes, I am a little surprised that one hasn’t triggered any antitrust interest.
Kindle readers are made for reading and cause less eye strain and that’s why a fair share of people I know stick with buying books from Amazon. I suspect that many if not most people who buy from iBooks are casual readers who read between 5 to 10 books a year and who don’t spend more than a couple of hours reading on their iDevices. It also should be noted that readers are confined to the iTunes Store of their respective country if they ever choose to buy books from Apple but with Amazon there is no such restriction and a German can buy English books from Amazon.ca with a simple change to her Amazon’s country setting (whereas for Apple the process is a lot more complicated).
I read a minimum of 30-40 books a year, and buy them mainly (more than 90%) from iBooks, so I think it’s a generalisation to say that iBooks is for ‘casual readers who read between 5 to 10 books a year”.
One reason I switched from Amazon to iBooks is because the Mac application is so much better (the Kindle for Mac app is so ugly that it makes my eyes hurt just thinking about it). I like to organise and read my books on my computer, when taking a break from work. I occasionally buy a Kindle book if there’s a significant price difference, which from time to time there is; and I still own a Kindle eReader, which I use a few times a year when sitting on the beach. But I just find the whole iBooks experience (the store layout, being able to buy books inside the iOS application, even the iOS icon) more polished and enjoyable. I guess it’s a subjective thing. If Amazon made a better-designed Mac app, it would be a wash.
I read about a book a week (genre fiction, mostly) and read mostly on iBooks. (Also, my understanding is that objective measures of eye-strain have found no significant difference between e-paper-like displays and modern LCD or OLED displays.)
That said, there is no doubt that Amazon has a quasi-monopoly in this area. And that feeds itself, in that Amazon can often have better (nominal) prices and their user reviews are often more comprehensive/richer (I actually often use Amazon for the reviews even when eventually buying in iBooks).
That’s interesting about you being able to buy from Amazon.ca in Germany: I’m in the US and have tried getting ebooks from Amazon.fr, but it doesn’t let me, saying “Les titres Kindle d’Amazon.fr ne peuvent pas être envoyés dans votre pays. Veuillez vous rendre dans la boutique Kindle d’Amazon.com.” (i.e., “The titles from Amazon.fr cannot be sent to you country. Please using the Amazon.com store.”).
The restrictions on media purchases from various countries are imposed by the publishers and not Apple or Amazon.
Kindle app is simply better with more features
I just published my first novel last month. It took 5 weeks for Amazon to post it to their site (yesterday in fact) versus 3 days with Apple. Apple’s cut is 30% while Amazon is over 50%. Personally, I think that Apple’s reader is a lot easier to use than the Kindle App. Overall, I have not been that impressed with Amazon.
Which Amazon model are you on? I’m on the 70% royalty.
Being I have 0% background with the publishing process, I went through Lulu who then worked with the distributors. For an $8.99 title, iBooks takes $2.70 share and Amazon takes $5.15 share.
There’s no Amazon option that has them take $5.15 from an $8.99 title unless, for some reason, the file size is massive. Is it a photo book?
No, it is a novel. The epub file is about 700kb.
Sounds to me, then, like Lulu is taking a cut. I can’t see any other way to end up with that net amount.
sparkymalone – Whoa, don’t use Lulu if you can at all avoid it. Take the book off and do it yourself–you need the knowledge and the flexibility to make changes if/when you can.
Ben – I believe Lulu is on a wholesale model with Amazon, which is what a number of small publishers have. It allows Amazon to discount the title, but the author is paid based on the undiscounted price. Most of the wholesalers that I know of get somewhere between 45-55% of retail. It’s only the big pubs that get 70% through the agency model.
That makes more sense – couldn’t see a way to get that kind of percentage on the standard deals.
As a reader, I would say that about 95% of my ebook purchases are still tied to Kindle. As an author, my sales are similar: the vast majority from Amazon, with the balance split between iBooks, Google Play, Nook and Kobo. Of those, iBooks and Google Play account for most sales; I rarely sell on Nook, and Kobo sales seem to be limited to friends and family back in my native Canada, where Kobo was born and still has a healthy market share.
for a book reader, As they say, it Eee-Co-Nomics!!
iBooks is more expensive. So Price matters
Prime membership makes sense if you order some physical good once or twice per month, AND once you are a Prime member, you get a book a month for free.
I’d love to use iBooks more, but I find that Apple can’t compete on price and, more importantly, on selection. Very often Apple does not offer what I want (I usually check to see if they’re catching up), and I’d rather be primarily in one reader. For that reason, Amazon gets my business.
As far as I’m concerned, iBooks user-interface is a disaster. A total miss. And while the Kindle app isn’t too much better, it is “better by enough” to be preferable. Plus, Amazon’s website is better for browsing and buying books. (For instance, my Mrs uses her “Amazon dollars” (I don’t know what they’re actually called!) to buy books for me. They get sent to me via a quick email from Amazon. That level of convenience is a really good reason to stay with Amazon.
I’m split roughly 70/30 in favor of iBooks at the moment. I made the choice that way since I don’t like Amazon’s business model regarding authors and publishers and have found some of their tactics questionable. So for me, the politics [with a small ‘p’] plays a part in my decision. And I’m a huge reader of books and magazines… both digitally and on paper still.
Plus, I subscribe to a number of pdf-based magazines [which aren’t available on Amazon], such as InDesign Magazine and find the syncing experience through iBooks to be pretty easy.
We all make our choices, I have and use both iBooks and Kindle on my iPad [which is frankly, a far superior reading experience than any kindle device could offer, imo]. The price differential is not across the board either. I’ve found and bought a number of books that have been equally priced on both stores, but by an large, Kindle is cheaper for many.
But you don’t find Apple’s tactics/business model in the publisher realm to be questionable?
I buy also considerable amount of books by Google play store. No books by iBooks because I can read them on my MacBook, iPad, but not on my Nexus phone.
I’m locked into the Apple ecosystem (iPhone, iPad, MacBook) and have no issues with eye strain reading on Apple devices. If I preferred to read on a Kindle device, I’m sure that would lead me to buy exclusively from Amazon, but since I don’t, I prefer buying from Apple. I think the UI for iBooks beats out Kindle across all platforms. The only reason I’ll still buy some Kindle books is that many of them go on sale regularly, and if I can get significant price savings I’ll take it. But in cases where books are similarly priced, I’ll go with iBooks every time.
Have you tried using a kindle Paperwhite? I find that reading on the iPad/iphone during the day is fine, but at bedtime I sleep better when I use the Kindle.
I want to use iBooks more because I think the iBooks mobile and desktop apps are better than Kindle’s but there are a few key reasons I always end up sticking with Kindle:
The eInk display is my preferred reading method. I read enough in the outdoors and bright places that I prefer reading on that kind of display.
The ability to start a highlight on one page and continue to another appears to only be supported in the Kindle apps (when compared to iBooks but I haven’t used other ebook readers to know if they do or not).
The selection of books available on Kindle is greater and there are some religious books that are on Kindle but not on iBooks. Popular fiction appears to be even but outside of that there appears to be a pretty significant discrepancy that is heavily weighted towards Kindle.
To be fair iBooks does some really good things I wish Kindle did. I prefer reading in an san-serif font and what iBooks offers is much better (IMHO) than Kindle’s.
iBooks for the desktop allows having more than one book open at a time and looks nicer too. Heck, the Kindle desktop app has received one update in the last few years and that was a compatibility update and not new functionality. It’s odd that t he mobile apps offer so much more functionality than the desktop app, especially since Amazon wants to own, or at least be a big player, the digital textbook market but they don’t offer the ability to have more than one book open at a time or highlight in different colors.
This is something that I have fretted over a lot and ultimately I’ve stuck with Amazon. The fight isn’t over but the longer things stay (generally) the way they are the more likely I am to stick with Amazon because thetas where all my books will be.
I buy on kindle exclusively, convert to ePub in Calibre and read exclusively in iBooks.
I tend to chose iBooks. In part because the books I chose are the same nominal price on both platforms, but I always buy Apple content through 20%-discounted gift cards I get off eBay. The other reason is that I prefer the UI and typography of iBooks.
That said, Amazon’s ability to sync between e-book and audiobook occasionally makes my choice go the other way. (Also, once, Amazon had a price that was significantly better, so that my 20% discount didn’t cover the difference.)
” UK study found that 50% of ebook readers used Kindle while 31% used iBooks. A US study last summer suggested that in the 18-24 age-range, iBooks was now just 2% behind Kindle. ”
That’s a pretty narrow age bracket though, and quite possibly not the one that’s consuming the most books anyway in this day and age.
For iBooks to be more viable they probably need an Android app or for the books to become DRM free and portable. Kindle to me is appealing as any purchases won’t lock me into an ecosystem, where the same can’t be said for iBooks.
kindle unlimited rules!
Interesting. For me in tech books there are far more kindle books vs iBooks to choose from. Also one of iBooks key features(better formatting and multimedia) rarely get used. Couple that with a average ebook price that’s 30+ percent greater they tie my hands. I’d gladly pay the larger price if the book took advantage of the iBooks features. As it is they seem identical to the kindle edition which looks terrible.
I’m an Apple fan boy tried and true, but Amazon has the book market cornered with benefits from Prime and sharing.
Now if Apple could make a better iBooks app, with more benefits, and a way to read my book using a browser (i.e. on a windows box, just in case), then I might look to switch.
Until iBooks becomes a universal platform (because I use Windows at work), I’m sticking with Kindle. Just as plain and simple as that!
Um…how much Kindle reading are you doing at work? Are you an editor or something?
I prefer the iBooks user interface but Amazon’s prices generally seem to be much lower. That’s really the only reason I tend to use the Kindle app more than iBooks. I actually still buy a lot of paper books, either from Amazon or B&N.
I, to, was an early adopter of the Kindle: I used to travel extensively and rather than pack 2 or 3 hardback books, the Kindle offered the freedom to take one slim device and many books – with the ability to buy even more if I wanted to. Fast forward a couple of years and the BIG Kindle DX came out and I jumped on that as a pre-order. Bigger is always better!
When I got my first iPad one of the first apps was the Kindle reader – but I still mostly read on the Kindle DX. It was lighter, thinner and easier to read on, IMO.
Then Apple released the Retina iPads and I never picked either Kindle up again! With all the books I’d already purchased through Amazon I never even though of buying a book from Apple UNLESS it wasn’t available via Amazon. When the publisher / Amazon wars started a couple of years ago I knew I could always buy a book title from a publisher who was boycotting Amazon from Apple – but I never had to. All the book titles showed up on Amazon. Add to that fact I use the Amazon credit card and get 3 points for every thing I buy from Amazon and there is no reason for me to have multiple sources for the books I read. Amazon got in early and has captured my $$$.
I find that very interesting, so you find you can read as long on the iPad with Retina than you can on a Kindle e-ink reader?
Out of 2231 votes it is largely an overall even split.
I love LOVE my Kindle Paperwhite Touch. I don’t enjoy reading on the iPad as much. My eyes’s suffer less fatigue on the Kindle dedicated eReader. As a voracious reader (a dozen books a month on average), I think the Kindle Prime sales model is the greatest thing since Guttenberg.
I buy 99% of my books on iBooks, only purchasing on Kindle when there is a book I just cannot get on iBooks, which is not very often.
Kindle apps on iOS and especially the Mac are ugly and the choices Amazon makes in relation to fonts and formatting is highly questionable. iBooks on the other hand, both on iOS and OS X, look beautiful with awesome formatting. Most importantly, in iBooks I can download samples and immediately purchase. With Amazon I have to purchase away from the app and in a web browser. I have said many times (to anyone who would listen) that since Amazon is not too concerned with profits they should just suck it up and pay Apple the % and move the store inside their app. It would be very compelling. But for now iBooks has the edge, it is just a better experience to check out sales, samples, categories and then one click to make a purchase.
I do think that iBooks has been neglected a bit. iBooks Author has not gained much traction it seems and the actual iBooks apps have not changed much. Hopefully in the Fall there will be some bigger changes to iBooks, especially in areas such as reviewing and reading highlights, which Kindle does better.
I sold my e-ink Kindles, too slow and pokey (yes even the Voyage) I read on my large iPhone 6 Plus (with leather Apple case of course) and suffer zero “eye strain”…in fact it’s a fast and responsive, fantastic, crystal clear, beautiful reading experience.
Guys, Kindle ebooks are always much cheaper than Ibooks so the decision is easy. I would love to buy from Ibooks, I get Itunes card on sale when they are 20% off, but I can’t find books that are the same price as Kindle or I would buy them off of Ibooks.
So that is the problem for Ibooks, they aren’t in the same league as Kindle price wise.
I have both an iPad and a Kindle but read books only on the Kindle. It’s not the eco system I chose but the technology – I find reading using an e-Ink display is much easier for long periods than on a back lit LCD display.
Same here. I read all my ebooks on my iPad with the Kindle App.
I found the same. I rejected Kindle Amazon for too long, believing in the iBook structure. I write about Bonsai Trees and Bonsai Forests – and iBooks gave me the ideal platform with their picture gallery and ease of presentation. But sadly – sales (despite promotion ) just dribbled along at approx 4 per month. With an ocassional sale via Kobo and Nook. I finally re-formatted one of my books using the new Kindle platform ‘Kindle Textbook Creator’ and to my total surprise the sales started pouring in immediately. Craig
I believe the volume of sales coming mostly from amazon may be due to the genre you write. I write mostly science based fiction.
As a result of my chosen writing genre, the majority of sales come from the iBook Store, to a tune of 12 to 1 from amazon. Kobo is 5 to one to amazon. In fact, recently, i have pulled the majority of my smaller titles from amazon. Because of total no sales. But those titles are selling well at iBooks and Kobo.
As I have pointed out to many writers and authors on various forums. Just because the majority of sales of books You write come from amazon. Does not suggest the majority of sales of All books come from amazon.
The majority of friends in my circle choose to purchase their reading material from iBooks rather than amazon, as amazon is cluttered with rubbish..
Possibly, though other authors I’ve spoken to have reported for the thing. For me, the lending library also works well since Amazon started paying per page read, as my books are relatively long and people read the whole books.
I am an author and would publish on iBooks if Apple didn’t have the computer requirement it did. Because I don’t own a Mac (and never will) I would need to go through an aggregate (like Lulu) and that is just way too much effort and expense. For me, personally, the benefits of enrolling into the Kindle Select are “meh” at best. I have a lot of advertising dollars and therefore even though I am self-published and even though I am a first time author (erotic romance genre) the book shot up into top seller status in the first 2 weeks and has steadily improved since then. Granted, part of what helped that was being enrolled in Kindle Select and having those pages read help in your overall ranking. And that is pretty much where I think the advantage ends for someone such as myself. Other than, if you want to do a flash sale where you reduce the price of your book temporarily. However (and I did not realize this a first) you can only choose to either give free copies or do flash sales. You can’t do both within that 3 months period. After reading what other people did, I thought offering free copies of my book would aid in the word of mouth. Plus, I think possibly initially you were still paid even on free copies (based on the blog posts I read). Anyway, doing the free copies (you get a total of 5 days where you can schedule to not charge for your book) certainly aided distribution, however, not a single review resulted from it. All my reviews have been from people that actually shelled out money. The reason why I think charging $0 is bad is because people think of the book as having no value even though it might be well written. And most readers don’t understand that the reason you offered it at $0 was to get them to give you feedback. Anyway, going slightly off topic there. So I am not thrilled with Kindle Select and would publish with iBooks or Nook if it was worth it but Nook seems to have no sell through and iBooks has that silly Mac requirement and based on your data (and everyone else that I am reading here) not worth the headache and expense to do it. As to enrolling the book in Kindle Select, really the only real benefit I see is it helps in the rankings but I am not sure if it is worth it. Looking at the last month and a half of pages read, I am being paid approximately 30% of what I would have been paid had those books been purchased instead of being paid per page read. So about a 70% monetary income loss based on the number of pages read and dividing it by the number of pages in and entire book to establish how many of the books were downloaded approximately. And even if I adjust for people who would not have made the purchase if they would have had to pay for it instead of being part of their monthly dues, I think in the end there still would have been more physical purchases than moneys paid. So, all that being said, I think Apple is missing the opportunity to expand their inventory if they did not have the computer requirements they did, because – while Amazon is making me money hand over fist – Kindle Select is not what is keeping me exclusive to them.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Which promos have you found generated the best results?