1/3 of Brits now own an ebook reader

1/3 of Brits now own an ebook reader
Ebook readers all round but print books are hanging on in there

A new survey has revealed that a third of Brits now own an ebook reader, a stat that has risen by 21 per cent compared to 2011.

By comparison, reading printed books as an activity has fallen by 4 per cent according to the digital entertainment survey commissioned by Wiggin, although it still rides high as an activity engaged in by 43 per cent of the survey's respondents.

Add to that the fact that 38 per cent of people still have no plans to start reading ebooks, and print might not be quite as dead in the water as people seem to think.

A truth universally acknowledged

The stats come by way of the 2012 Digital Entertainment Survey from Entertainment Media Research and media law firm Wiggin, which surveyed 2,500 British people aged between 15 and 64 in March this year.

The ebook reader might be enjoying itself as the gadget du jour, but piracy in the ebook world could be on the up as a result, with 31 per cent of consumers who read ebooks admitting that they download pirate copies of books.

This could be down to confusingly high ebook pricing, a matter that is currently the subject of several debates and lawsuits as major players like Apple have been accused of price-fixing in their digital bookstores.

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.