14 DAY TRIAL // Amazon isn't the only one enjoying good e-book reader sales. Toronto company Kobo also has a reason to celebrate, having published a statement in which it says that twice as many units sold in 2012 than in 2011.
As curious as it sounds, Kobo doesn't actually give the exact number of e-readers that sold, although it did provide other figures.
For one, it mentioned that it acquired 4 million new customers since last summer, leading to a total of 12 million registered worldwide.
Kobo also said that 22 million e-book pages were read on its e-readers during Christmas.
Users in the United States averaged 160 pages per customer, but the Canadians scored the real medal here, with 200 per person.
“In December we celebrated Kobo’s third anniversary as well as the biggest month for the company yet,” said Kobo’s CEO Michael Serbinis.
“Millions of new users registered with Kobo in December alone, annual device sales soared with millions of Kobo eReaders bought, and eBook sales nearly doubled from the previous year. 2012 was truly outstanding for our company and our network of booksellers and retailers around the world.”
Right now, Kobo holds 20% of the worldwide e-reader market. Its services are used in South Africa, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Japan, etc.
Overall, it is clear that the Kobo Glo, Kobo Mini and Kobo Arc all pulled their weight last year. Of course, one shouldn't mistake that last one for an e-book reader. While it can read electronic books, it is actually a 7-inch tablet.
If Kobo's statistics are to be believed, romance is the most popular genre right now, in no small part thanks to 50 Shades of Gray.
With the addition of extra Italian, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Afrikaans, German, Spanish, and Catalan language books, the numbers can only go up.