Will audiobooks dominate the book market in the future?

By Direct Link - Books have long been considered an almost perfect e-commerce product. They are logistically relatively easy to handle and usually fit in the recipient´s mailbox.

It´s probably not a coincidence that the first product Jeff Bezos sold when he started Amazon was booked. And in most studies on online consumer behavior, books are almost always in the top three favorite categories to buy. 

But in recent years, something has been happening in this classic industry – downloaded audiobooks are increasing in popularity and taking more and more market share. Why is this happening? Isn’t the experience of holding and reading a  physical book far more charming than listening to the words read by another person? 

It seems evident that more and more people don’t see it that way. If we look at the  United States, one of the world’s largest book markets, 57 percent of consumers between 18 and 49 years old have listened to audiobooks during the last twelve months.

In the age group 65 years and older, the exact figure is 12 percent. So, this seems to be somewhat of a generational issue. 

Audiobooks: the multitasking option 

Proponents of audiobooks state that their main advantage is that they can be contained in a phone or an iPad and easily transported from place to place. Another benefit mentioned is that you can do something else while listening to the book. 

Seventy-four percent of female audiobook users in the US stated that they were “multitasking” when listening. In 2010, the number of audiobook titles published in the  United States was 6 200. In 2021, the corresponding number was 74 000. Music streaming platform Spotify has relatively recently entered the audiobook market. It remains to be seen if the giant, with more than 350 million monthly users, will become a dominant player also in the audiobook market.  

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