In absence of detailed Kindle sales data from Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN), the consumer research group YouGov has taken a stab.
- It says 1.33 million e-readers were given as gifts in the UK this Christmas.
- 92 percent (1.22 million) of them were Kindles.
- That beat the 640,000 tablets YouGov says were given as gifts – 72 percent of them were iPads.
- All in all, YouGov says one in 40 UK people received an e-reader this Christmas.
But YouGov’s figures are not concrete. They are based on a survey of 2,012 adults, modelled up to try representing the entire UK population; and the survey was online so naturally skews techy.
Amazon itself says it sold “well over” one million Kindles each week of December (ie. over four million through December).
The Kindle Fire is not yet available in the UK, but the country has relatively fewer e-reader options than the States, where the likes of Nook are strong. Kobo gained high street retail distribution pre-Christmas through WH Smith stores. Bookseller Waterstone’s is currently contemplating its own Nook-style device.
Both Kindle and iPad proved more popular with women, whilst alternative brands were received more by men, YouGov says.