An increasing number of people say they have plans to buy an eBook reader during the holiday season, according to a survey by consumer electronics shopping site Retrevo. The interest in the category is actually higher than MP3 music players.
About 21 percent of respondents said that they planned to buy an eBook reader this year. There were more males (1 in 4) interested than females (1 in 6). The Gadgetology study focused on eBook readers in particular.
The two main choices are still the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader. In the survey, potential customers favored the Kindle by a two-to-one margin over the Sony Reader. The age group most interested in buying an eBook reader is 25 years old to 35 years old. Next on the list was 35 years old to 45 years old.
Wealthy consumers constituted the largest potential group of consumers. About 33 percent of the potential buyers are in the $100,000 to $200,000 annual household income bracket. About 9 percent of the consumers are willing to wait for the rumored Apple eBook reader. (Apple hasn't confirmed this rumor).
While eBook readers beat out MP3 players, they still aren't as popular as HDTVs, digital cameras, and laptops. The Retrevo report was conducted online and used a sample size of 771.