Online Book Services Market

Global Online Book Services Market Size (2024 to 2029)

The size of the global online book services market is anticipated to be valued at USD 26.27 billion by 2029 from USD 19.82 billion in 2024, growing at a CAGR of 5.8% from 2024 to 2029.

An electronic book also called an e-book is a digital type of book and comprises both text and pictures. These books are often easily readable on electronic devices like computers, tablets, and smartphones. The increasing adoption of those smart devices is considered the major factor that's driving the demand for e-books globally. Moreover, the government's environment protection campaigns across the globe to market-saving trees. For this, it's needed to reduce the utilization of paper, and thereby there's a rise in the demand for e-books.

MARKET DRIVERS

The surge in the trend of reading books online, along with the increasing penetration of smartphones and tablets, is spawning more digital users, which is expected to fuel the expansion of the worldwide market over the forecast period. 

Within the past several years, digital readers or e-readers have gained popularity with a spread of consumers. Retirees who are looking forward to downsizing their homes and getting to live a minimalist life to students who are uninterested in carrying around a backpack filled with books are highly inclined towards online books, which supply the utmost convenient reading experience.

Key factors that are driving the market growth include increasing consumers' inclination towards reading books online or e-books instead of print ones including the growing use of smartphones and tablets. Several online book service providers specialize in crucial factors of online books, like discoverability and visibility. They also specialize in marketing strategies so as to bolster their books during a crowded digital marketplace. They increasingly specialize in marketing campaigns, including online visibility with classic media outreach and publicity and promotion tactics. Different magazines, newspapers, TV, radio, podcasts, and their connected websites can significantly increase visibility and help them to succeed in the target consumers. Digitally savvy readers are more likely to form recommendations to others online via blogs, social media, etc. This is often expected to make a positive outlook for the market over the forecast period.

Online books make it easy for users to read because most editions have dictionaries, character summaries, appendices, and so on. Thus, easy navigation i.e., by just clicking on a reputation or an unknown word, the user can quickly determine more information which will make reading easier. this is often also an excellent feature for teenagers who are learning to read. The demand for online books is growing on account of exponentially increasing sales of digital products annually. As an example, in May 2020, Walmart released new versions of its Onn tablets, starting at USD 99 and including some uncommon features for Android tablets in therein price range. The tablets run Android 10 and use USB-C to charge, and are available with several Walmart apps preloaded, including the Walmart app, Vudu, Sam’s Club, and Walmart eBooks.

MARKET RESTRAINTS

Despite the positive outlook, growing online piracy issues are predicted to hamper market growth up to some extent within the coming years.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Global Online Book Services Market

The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the closure of most bookstores across the planet, thereby driving up eBook adoption. Consistent with the great e-Reader’s blog, 2 million new users registered with Kobo in May 2020, during the pandemic. Furthermore, the e-reader sort of book is cheaper than a hardcover, and many online book providers are giving huge discounts on e-books, and this is often attracting first-time buyers. Additionally, a web book is contributing to the decreased consumption of paper used for printing paper books, so e-books are eco-friendly. The downloading of online books is a simple process, and these books are often stored on the device, which is expected to spice up the expansion of the online book services market over the forecast period.

REPORT COVERAGE

REGIONAL ANALYSIS

North America dominated the worldwide online book services market by accounting for a 36.9% share in 2019. The rise in online book sales and free eBook downloads is a direct result of the increase in smartphone, tablet, and e-reader users. As per bankmycell.com, in 2019, over 260 million people within the U.S. had a smartphone and this number is probably going to surge within the coming years. High internet penetration, including a shift in preference among tech-savvy users from traditional books to online books, is predicted to drive the market within the coming years. In North America, the USA is likely to record the dominant share over the outlook period. In 2017, it's estimated that e-book user penetration within the U.S. has reached over 27%, amounting to around 90 million people. The foremost prolific e-book readers within the U.S. are millennials (ages 18 to 29), making up 34% of all digital book readers.

Asia Pacific is foreseen to expand at the very best CAGR of 7.1% over the outlook period. Shifting consumer preference from printed books to digital ones, including a robust increase in the penetration of smartphones and mobile platforms, is among the key factors fueling market growth. The demand for online books in China is booming among children, which is fueling this growth.

KEY PLAYERS IN THE GLOBAL ONLINE BOOK SERVICES MARKET

Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google, Smashwords, Inc., HarperCollins Publishers, Hachette Book Group, Lulu Press, Inc. and Scribd, Inc. are some of the major players in the global online book services market.

RECENT HAPPENINGS IN THE GLOBAL ONLINE BOOK SERVICES MARKET

• In July 2020, Rakuten Kobo launched its Kobo Plus, an exclusive eBook subscription in Canada. The Kobo Plus collection offers a long range of stories including literary classics like The Colour Purple and Sophie’s Choice; and popular genre page-turners like Breathless In Love: The Maverick Billionaires by Bella Andre (Romance); nearby by Blake Pierce (Mystery); and therefore the Emperor’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker (Sci-Fi).

• In June 2020, Amazon announced that it's providing two free months of Kindle Unlimited when someone signs up for the service. Kindle Unlimited is Amazon’s subscription service with a set of quite a million books, as well as select magazines like Time and National Geographic, and Audible narration on select titles.

• In May 2020, Apple introduced iBooks Author, Apple Books for Authors, a replacement effort to urge writers to publish on its platform. Apple’s app can produce PDFs for Kindle and may provide authors with everything from better typographical controls to embedding video.

DETAILED SEGMENTATION OF THE GLOBAL ONLINE BOOK SERVICES MARKET INCLUDED IN THIS REPORT

This research report on the global online book services market has been segmented and sub-segmented based on category and region.

By Category

• Trade

• Education

• Science, Technology & Medicine (STM)

By Region

• North America

• Latin America

• Asia Pacific

• Europe

• Middle East & Africa