E-book craze hits S.Korea

[unreal.livejournal.com]

E-book mania has hit South Korea thanks to successful sales of tablet PCs. Until recently, Korea was not part of the global e-book craze. This year, however, explosive growth in the domestic e-book market is expected.

Kyobo Book Center recently announced e-book sales for the first quarter of this year (Q1) 6.4 times higher than those of Q1 last year. The number of Q1 e-book downloads skyrocketed by a factor of 96 from 2010 to 2011. Statistics from online mobile device application stores also reveal the popularity of e-books. Among Korean application sellers, Apple’s App Store recorded sales of 16,440 e-books and 7,260 educational books, while T store sold 20,596 e-books and 5,068 educational and foreign language books.


A look at the publishing market also confirms the popularity of e-books. The number of popular printed books released simultaneously with e-books has increased. Also attracting attention are cases where books are published exclusively in e-book format: Kyobo Book Center did this for the Maigret series in November last year, while Interpark published Korean author Cho Chong-rae’s classic ten-volume Taebaek Mountains novel in e-book form for the first time this February.

E-book-related marketing is also in full swing. Since last month, telecommunications giant KT has been running an event where customers receive “electronic cash” that can be spent at its on-line “Olleh ebook” store (ebook.olleh.com). Off-line bookstores such as Kyobo Book Center, Interpark and Bandi and Luni’s, meanwhile, are running events where customers receive a free paper book when purchasing an e-book.

“When you consider the fact that smartphones and tablet PCs have only been around for a year, South Korea’s e-book market growth rate is extremely high,” said Chang Gi-yeong, director of the Korea Electronic Publishing Association. “Existing statistics do not allow accurate distinctions, but we estimate that around 100,000 e-book titles have been published.”

Until recently, South Korea’s e-book market had been somewhat detached from the global trend. Last year, following the success of the Kindle e-book reader, the global e-book market enjoyed huge growth, with e-book sales surpassing paper sales by Amazon. It was only in South Korea that e-book sales fail to take off. E-book readers such as those released by Samsung (Papyrus), iRiver (Story) and Interpark (Biscuit) failed to get much of a reception, while Samsung Electronics even withdrew from the e-book reader market last year.


The big change in the e-book market this year is beyond doubt due to the decisive role played by tablet PCs. The increasing number of tablet PCs in circulation since the beginning of this year, such as the Galaxy Tab and the iPad 2, has begun opening a new form of e-book market. Analysis by experts says that South Korea, where the growth rate for smart devices is high, is entering the tablet PC e-book era directly, without going through an era, like that in the United States, of dedicated “electronic ink” readers such as the Kindle.

The result is that businesses are leaping headfirst into the e-book market. On May 18, NHN launched “Naver Books E-book Service.” On May 17, Hancom entered into an alliance with Yes 24 to launch the “Hancom ReadOn” e-book viewer for the Andoid platform. SK Telecom is due to enter the market within the first half of this year, while KT is already the olleh ebook service.

The market for “self-publishing” services, which allow users to make their own books, is growing. Solutions allowing users to create their own e-books, such as the “Namo eBookEditor,” have been launched, while services creating custom-made e-books, such as textore, Autopub and Bucci, have also appeared.

Source: hani

Comments

[adropofcitrus.livejournal.com]

I've heard the Kindle is good. When I worked for Borders we had 4 different e-readers. The Sony e-readers are really good too.

[adropofcitrus.livejournal.com]

the people I know who have bought any of the Sony's are really pleased with them :]

[puppet-princess.livejournal.com]

I'm happy with mine. Had it a year and a half, still running strong.

[taylorniw.livejournal.com]

My grandmother has the Nook from Barnes and Noble and she says it's great. I've heard good things about it in general.

[nile-red.livejournal.com]

I LOVE my kindle..I got my mom to mail it to me from the US....the battery life is great. If you just want an e-reader, this is the thing to get...but If you want something that can also get online, watch movies, etc...get something else.

[eigna-fluff.livejournal.com]

If you get any chance of getting a Kindle, I extremely recommend it if you only want it for reading, it doesn't have a screen like a computer or iPad, it honestly looks like a book page so it doesn't tire your eyes even if you read for a gazillion hours like I do. But if you want it for internet, videos, etc, get a tablet =)

[sballet06.livejournal.com]

+1 the recommendations for a Kindle if you can get your hands on one.
Great battery life, you can read for hours without eye strain because of the e ink screen. Love it so much!

[wish-u-were-moi.livejournal.com]

i use that app
i store all my yunjae pdf's there

[adropofcitrus.livejournal.com]

;~; it's so sad. I worked for Borders until last month when they closed our store. I can't get into e-books. I love the actual thing.

[cookiedealer.livejournal.com]

I don't like e-books. Living right next to the library has spoiled me.

[initialc.livejournal.com]

Love love love my Kindle. When they dropped the price to under $150, it just seemed like the thing to get.

I am a book person, but I travel a bit and lugging books around just wasn't that easy. I put the kindle in my purse and it's there with a few books at the ready.

I love the screen. I like to read outside and it's so cool how the screen looks.

If anything, the kindle has made me read more.

[fate-otaku.livejournal.com]

I prefer holding the book in my hands and feeling the paper, better. I will never get the appeal of e-books.

*sigh*

[osquishy.livejournal.com]

this so much.

i get that it would be great not having to lug my books when i go travelling but i just love holding my real books too much. and what happens when your battery runs out?

Re: *sigh*

[fate-otaku.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I don't even care if my book is 500 pages thick, I will carry it around.

[k0dama.livejournal.com]

My biggest gripe with ebooks is that you cannot write on them.
I like to write a little bit in the books I read, because I often read to write.

[fate-otaku.livejournal.com]

I write a bit on my books too! I write down my thoughts when I read it, this and that so that I can see how my thinking has changed the next time I read it again. :) I don't like writing original fiction after reading fiction, because then my writing style would mirror the author of the book I just read, so when I read my stories after a while, it doesn't sound like I wrote it.

[sballet06.livejournal.com]

I said the same thing until I got a Kindle as a christmas present.

I read ALOT so even with library runs and a booksfree membership plus buying books their would still be times I would be bored with nothing to read. With the Kindle I can just dl a book really quick to read and it's perfect for reading on the subway, airplanes, etc.

[fate-otaku.livejournal.com]

I read a lot as well and I have to admit it's torture not having anything new to read right then and there, but I feel so much happier turning the pages. There's also just something so satisfying seeing your room filled with books. The only way I'm ever going to own a Kindle is if someone buys it for me because I will not stop buying physical books. :D

[sballet06.livejournal.com]

OH IA even with the Kindle I wouldn't stop buying books. I guess for me it's not an either or situation. I'm with you on the sight of your room filled with books being satisfying. I actually can't wait to buy my own house where I can have a library room filled with books <3

But I'm glad I got it as a gift because I most likely wouldn't have even considered buying one for myself.

[fate-otaku.livejournal.com]

I want my own small library hut beside my house. *_* aah the dreams of a bookworm.

[puppet-princess.livejournal.com]

I'm sure sales have nothing to do with the fact that there has been a looooot of product placement in dramas and stuff the last year. Even if they don't how the brand name, a cool gadget still gets attention.

[idletales.livejournal.com]

I used say I would never get the appeal of ebooks, but of course once I get one it is my favorite thing ever. They are a danger to a bibliophile's bank account, tbh

[untrueo.livejournal.com]

I just love the name for South Korean ebook readers. Biscuit, I would buy that.

[talklikeazombie.livejournal.com]

I like Kindle on my laptop, just because I like Amazon.

[shinobu-kokoro.livejournal.com]

This is awesome, so whenever go back to South Korea pick up some e-books for my Kobo.

I got the Kobo on sale from one of their Borders that was closing in LA. The Kobo isn't as good as the Kindle and the Nook, but the deciding factor for me was that the Kobo can read PDF files...whereas the Kindle or the Nook cannot, and u are pretty limited on where u can e-books from on them. I love that I can read my PDF files on my Kobo :)

[aures.livejournal.com]

kinda OT but

are there any good korean books? (translated to english)

[dreamerbri.livejournal.com]

looking on google, there aren't a lot of korean books translated into english. this website might help you though: http://www.ktlit.com/

[aures.livejournal.com]

thank you so much *____* ♥