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With just two weeks until Christmas it is unlikely people will be receiving e-readers in their stocking this year, according to research.
A YouGov survey revealed at The Bookseller Digital Conference, Futurebook, showed that only 11% of respondents would consider purchasing an e-reader for a friend or family member as a Christmas present. E-readers fell behind all other listed gifts including a digital camera, digital photo frame and games console. Even when asked what they would like to receive as a Christmas present just 14% of respondents said they would prefer an e-reader.
The price appeared to be the main factor that put people off buying devices. Of those surveyed, 56% were only prepared to pay less than £150 for an e-reader, with just 9% prepared to spend more than £200. The mean expected cost was £110.50. However, consumers could be left disappointed with Sony e-readers priced between £139 and £249 and the Amazon Kindle around £156.
Marek Vaygelt, head of consumer, technology and telecoms consulting at YouGov, said: "Mass market dedicated e-readers need to be close to £100 to take off." When respondents were asked why they would be unlikely to purchase an electronic reader, 35% said that they were too expensive.
Copy protection of e-books was also an issue among prospective buyers of e-book readers. In the survey, 86% strongly agreed or agreed that they would want to be able to transfer e-books from device to device.
Although the younger generation is typically thought of as being early adopters of technology, the survey found that 40% of current e-reader owners were 55 and over. The majority (36%) who intended to buy a reader were also over 55.
The YouGov survey interviewed 1,168 respondents nationally representative of the UK online population.