Connected e-reader sales to hit 6.6m

Gartner figures suggest 6.6 million units will be shipped worldwide in 2010

Analysts say that global sales of connected e-readers will total 6.6 million units this year, up a whopping 79.8 per cent from 2009.

The figures are from Gartner, which also says sales of the devices will expand to 11 million units in 2011, up 68.3 per cent from 2010. North America is currently leading the market, but Western Europe is expected to start catching up.

Hugues De La Vergne, principal research analyst at Gartner, said: "The connected e-reader market has grown dramatically during the past two years, driven by sales of Amazon's e-readers, primarily in North America. This is the dominant region for e-reader sales, and we predict that it will account for sales of just over four million units in 2010."

"North America will remain a key market through 2014, although its dominance will decline significantly as regions such as Western Europe and Asia/Pacific become the leading locations for growth."

The only thing holding back the fast-growing market is the continued success of media tablets such as the iPad, which tend to offer more functionality, according to De La Vergne.

Three vendors dominate the e-reader leaderboard - Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Sony - but rivals are expected to appear as cheaper devices are rolled out that are subsidised by owners of the content delivered on the devices.

Companies such as HP and Dell are also jockeying for position here, according to De La Vergne.