Third Quarter US eReader Shipments Estimated At 2 Million Units

Third Quarter US eReader Shipments Estimated At 2 Million Units

IDC released their quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker, estimating device shipments around the world, for the third quarter of 2010. They tabulate 2.7 million ereaders shipped to vendors in period, with the US comprising three-quarters of the market, or 2.025 million units. Their tablet count remains even higher, at 4.8 million units, up from 3.3 million units in the second quarter, with Apple still holding about 90 percent of that market.

IDC says that Amazon comprised 1.1 million of those ereader units (a 41.5 percent market share worldwide), with Pandigital just barely taking second place with its line (which includes LCD models), shipping 440,000 units. Barnes & Noble's Nook line was close behind, with 420,000 units (and this is prior to the release of Nook Color). Sony's Reader line was further behind, at 230,000 units, tied with Hanvon.

Forecasting forward, they expect ereader shipments to comprise 10.8 million units for the year, with roughly 7.8 million units going to the US and three million units for the rest of the world. (The primary manufacturer of electronic paper screens, E Ink, has forecast full-year shipments of 10 million units for 2010.)

Their bigger guesses for 2011 forecast 14.7 million ereaders shipping in 2011, dwarfed by their projection of 44.6 million tablets in the year ahead, with almost 18 million of those tablets headed to the US.

That's in some ways consistent with IMS Research's reports on the ereader market, derived from shipments of ereader components and units. We have not seen their third quarter data yet, but in September they forecast 46 million tablets for 2011, and 15.6 million for 2010. Their forward estimate of 2010 ereader shipments was higher, however--they were looking for 13.1 million reader units worldwide last year.

IDC release