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Second-quarter 2014 data collected by leading Dutch distributor CB Logistics indicates a continued rise in digital book adoption.
"There is no flattening out yet over here in e-book sales," said Timo Boezeman, sales account manager with CB, based at Culemborg, The Netherlands.
Boezeman and his company have provided an infographic with many details, which can be seen alongside commentary on The FutureBook site.
The share of e-book sales in the online market reported by CB in the second quarter of 2014 grew by 18%, with 26% of those sales as e-books, to 74% physical books.
In annual aggregate figures since January 2010, CB reports some five million Dutch-language e-book titles. At midpoint last year, the figure stood at three million, indicating a quickening pace, year-over-year.
Overall, e-books accounted for 4.7% of total sales, also representing an 18% rise over the previous quarter.
CB's Boezeman reports that 41% of titles available in print were also available in digital formats. This represents an increase of some 11%, quarter-over-quarter.
The effect of the January 2013 conversion in much of the Dutch-language market from Adobe DRM to watermarking "continues to be seen, CB reporting "Only one out of 50 sold e-books is protected with Adobe DRM."
CB saw 72% of Q2 e-book sales in the Dutch-language market in "literature and fiction." (The report doesn't break the fiction sector down by genre.) Children's books accounted in the second quarter for 6% of e-books sold; non-fiction and human development e-books for 7% each; management books, 5%; travel e-books, 2%; and education books 1%.
The second quarter saw 212 publishers operating in the space (up 17% over the previous quarter) and 167 retailers (up 15%).