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Kobo Reports 400% Growth in eBook Sales, 160% Growth in eReader

  Kobo announced today that they’ve seen stellar growth in the past year. eBook sales and sales of the Kobo Touch are both up significantly. What’s more, Kobo has nearly quadrupled their user base, with the number of people reading with Kobo internationally reportedly being up by 280%.

 "It’s become increasingly clear that the world of eReading is the way of the future and as technology continues to break down geographic borders, Kobo is excited to lead the charge into new markets and continue to shape the future of the multi-billion dollar eReading industry, " says Michael Serbinis, CEO of Kobo. He added, "Strong eReader growth is projected by IDC for the European market; with sales increasing over 400% to 9.6-million devices expected in market by 2015. We expect Kobo’s trajectory for international growth and user adoption to quickly meet and exceed market projections.

Kob was bought by Rakuten in the fall of 2011, and both parties are expecting that it will offer unparalleled opportunities to extend Kobo’s reach through Rakuten’s other subsidiaries, including some of the world’s largest international e-commerce companies like Buy.com and Play.com.

Kobo plans to build on its relationship with Rakuten by first launching in Japan, where Rakuten has a solid presence in the online retail market. That launch has been in the works since January, and there’s no news on when it will happen. Further launches are planned for Portugal, Spain, Italy, but given that those sites were supposed to launch last fall and actually have been in the works for over a year I’m not sure when we will see them.

Kobo’s other international expansions all happened much faster, with a local ebookstore launched in Germany as well as partnerships in France (FNAC), UK (WHSmiths), and the Netherlands (Libris Blz). Kobo also has local partners in NZ and Australia.

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Comments


Afrânio June 5, 2012 um 1:37 am

Don’t forget Brazil. Both Kobo and Amazon are planning to start selling their ereaders here. I hope it happens sooner than later.


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