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The Brazilian eBook Market Grew by 350% in 2012

New2872826710_e380d50af0[1] estimates from the Câmara Brasileira do Livro show that the Brazilian ebook market saw stellar growth in 2012. Their research revealed that over 4 times as many ebooks were sold in Brazil in 2012 as in 2011.

But that doesn’t really matter much because ebooks were still less than 1% of the overall Brazilian book market. While that is obviously a minuscule figure, the other details from CBL are much more interesting.

CBL’s research also included a survey of Brazilian publishers which showed that 68% sell ebooks, and that 59% are still unsure as to what format they should be selling. Of the total who answered the question, 70% reported selling DRMed ebooks. As for distribution, 52.4% of use digital distributors and 58.7% use other sales channels.

Most of the publishers also reported that ebook revenues were negligible, with 54% saying that their digital revenues were less than 1%. That provides a contrast for the 10% of publishers who reported that ebook revenues accounted for over half of total revenue.

It’s not clear from my sources, but I suspect that the 1% market share is based on a survey of publishers and not market research. There is also no information on which ebookstore had what share of the market in 2012.

Amazon, Apple, Google, and Kobo all launched a local ebookstore in Brazil very late in 2012, so local competitors like Gato Sabido, Saraiva, BajaLibros, and Librara Cultura (now Kobo’s local partner) probably dominated the market.

Brazil has a population of around 200 million, most of whom speak Brazilian Portuguese.

eBook Portugal

image by F H Mira

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Comments


Marcelo October 19, 2013 um 12:36 pm

What should be stressed is that those early local ebookstores (including Livraria Cultura before the partnership with Kobo) were really negligible, with higher prices and lousy app support. With the launch of the “big guys” (Amazon, Kobo, Google, and Apple), e-books have now the chance to catch on.


Greg Strandberg October 19, 2013 um 5:21 pm

I knew the Amazon Brazil site didn’t have as many books, or at least downloads, when my perma-free got 3 'sales.' It boosted me right up into the Top 100 category rankings, something that would have taken dozens on Amazon US.

Hey, maybe that will translate into a real sale or two for me, who knows?


bookollekt | new booklooks for you! 10/20/2013 October 19, 2013 um 8:45 pm

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