The Global eBook Report: Current Conditions & Future Projections. Update October 2013

mobile internet users. [N3] But social media is steadily outstripping all other uses in urban centres, as observed by the Comscore study cited above.
    India registered 73.5 million mobile handset sales for the period January–April 2013, registering a growth of 11.1% year-on-year, according to CyberMedia Research. During the same period, 9.4 million smartphones were shipped in the country, showing a growth of 167.3% on an annual basis.
    The sale of tablet computers is rising, strengthening the demand for variety of content. An estimated 3 million were sold in 2012, from 0.5 million in 2011, according to the research agency, which had predicted that 6 million would sell in 2013. The growth in shipments of tablets in India registered a 107.4 % year-on-year growth in the second quarter of 2013. About 1.15 million tablets were sold in just the second quarter of 2013 by as many as 70 domestic and international vendors, according to the research agency. Almost 80% of the tablet device models launched during this period were with both of 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, leading to a growth of 103% in shipments of 3G tablets. Local brands are fiercely competing with global manufacturers for a share in the tablet market. The Indian consumer has no bias against local brands, perhaps because of the price-sensitivity of the Indian market.
    It was only with the launch of Amazon’s Kindle India Store in August 2012 that a Kindle device ( Kindle Wi-Fi 6” ) was available at an introductory price in India when the US company tied-up with the local Croma retail chain. Until then, Kindle devices, and perhaps a few Sony eReaders , were imported. Kobo will launch in India soon, and the company already identified a retail partner. [N4] Kobo’s entry is likely to create robust competition to the ereader devices segment.
    India’s preference for multi-feature devices that offer more value — over and above read-only devices like an ereader — is perhaps the reason for proliferation of low-cost and Android -based devices in the country. It is not surprising that 63.5% of tablets sold in the period between July–September 2012 were those priced below Rs 10,000 ($167).
    Although the sales of smartphones and tablets are growing strongly, and tablets have outstripped netbook sales too, most ereading continues to take place on personal computers and laptops.
    Government interventions in ereading technology
    The launch of the “cheapest tablet computer in the world” – Aakash – brought attention to the potential that low-cost technologies have to revolutionise internet access among a mass population. Fashioned as a public-private partnership project, the Android-based Aakash was to be subsidized by Government of India for students. The device was to be procured by the Ministry of Human Resource .
    Developed for Rs 2,263 ($38) by manufacturer Datawind Limited , it was to be made available to college and university students at Rs 1,130 ($19). Specifications for the third edition of Aakash were announced in early January 2013. But by end of January, the MHRD announced that it was thinking of shelving the project due to a supply gap coupled by the availability of other low-cost devices in the market. The future of the project remains uncertain.
    In the meantime Aakash has reached the US, where pilots aimed at helping schoolchildren learn maths and other subjects have been underway, in North Carolina and San Francisco. The company supplied 100 devices at $45. Following the pilot, about 2000 units have been shipped.
    In August 2013, it was reported that the government was exploring plans to develop and sell smartphones costing less than $100 to Indians, to drive the country’s broadband push. More recently, it was reported that the government was setting aside Rs 10,000 crore ($1,666.67 m) to give away 2.5 crore (25 million) mobile phones at subsidized rates in rural areas and 90 lakh (9 million) tablets free of cost to students of classes 9 and 10 studying in government areas.
    Elearning content
    At least 60% of all printed books sold in India are educational books. The emphasis on education has enabled early adoption of digital content in Indian universities, for almost a decade now. In the higher education and academic category, especially in STM segment, ejournals have been available to institutions and libraries. Journals published by publishers like Springer , Taylor & Francis , Elsevier , and Wiley were among the first. Much of the