Ebook Market Size, Share, and Industry Analysis By Platform (Smartphone, Tablet, and Laptop), By End User (Individual/Personal, Educational Institutions, Media & Entertainment, and Others (Manufacturing)), and Regional Forecast, 2026-2034

The global ebook market size was valued at USD 50.61 billion in 2025. The market is projected to grow from USD 59.2 billion in 2026 to USD 207.81 billion by 2034, exhibiting a CAGR of 16.99% during the forecast period.

The global ebook market is experiencing considerable expansion due to immersive reading experiences and AI-powered personalization. eBooks are same books existing in digital form and ready to be read on tablets, smartphones, and even computers. Numerous advantages of eBooks over traditional print books are portability, affordability, accessing vast library instantly, font size, and text to speech customization among other things. eBooks have transformed book reading into an effortless and convenient opportunity for all ages and cultures respectively.

• As per the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), 60% of U.S. adults have read at least one ebook in the past year.
• As per the International Publishers Association (IPA), 40% of global readers prefer to read ebooks over physical books.
• As per U.S. Book Industry Study Group (BISG), 55% of all fiction books in the U.S. are sold in ebook format.

eBooks can offer a way to democratise reading and access to literature and education around the world by crushing down geographical and economic barriers. They offer various features that enhance their accessibility, amongst which are text to speech, adjustable font sizes, and customizable color schemes that make them more accessible to readers with disabilities. Along with assistive technologies such as screen readers and braille displays, advancement of ebook experience for visually impaired readers is on the rise.

Ebook Market Driver

Proliferation of Electronic Devices to Expand the Market

The adoption of smartphones has been widespread. Casual reading or on-the-go consumption of a book can be made possible using smartphones since they come with constant connectivity and portability. The tablets come with larger screen size as compared to smartphones and thus offer more comfortable and immersive reading experience. Optimized reading experience includes adjustments in lighting, long battery lives, and dictionaries integrated feature, with dedicated e-readers such as Kindle and Kobo.

Environmental Considerations to Advance the Market

eBooks are environmentally friendly as compared to traditional book production. This prevents the need for paper and reduces deforestation along with creating less need for harmful chemicals that are used in paper production. It also reduces transportation costs and emissions generated by the physical shipment of books which is referred to as digital distribution. It decreases the generation of paper waste and also reduces the need of physical book storage. The demand for ecofriendly alternatives, e.g., eBooks, is being triggered by the rising consumer awareness of environmental issues.

• As per the U.S. Consumer Technology Association (CTA), 38% of ebook buyers in the U.S. prefer reading on e-readers such as Kindle or Nook, while 33% prefer tablets.

Ebook Market Restraint

Digital Piracy to Pose Potential Impediments on this Market

Digital file sharing is relatively easy which makes pirated eBooks easy to share regardless of channels, torrent sites, file sharing networks, and online forums, among others. It keeps authors and publishers from having legitimate revenue and prevents growth of the market. Piracy causes economic loss to the publishing industry, and therefore, to authors and publishers. Lost sales revenue obliquely translates into a lessened ability of creators to make investment in future projects.

Ebook Market Opportunity

Emerging Markets to Create Opportunity in this Market

Emerging economies exhibit significant growth potential for market expansion. As these regions are rapidly evolving economically, growing in internet penetration, and have a young population that is fervently attracted to digital technologies, there is a dearth of available data that can help companies operating in this space better refine their strategies to build and sustain market relevance in these countries.

As these markets mature, digital content is in high demand, ranging from ebooks to other forms of content. This represents a really great chance for publishers, platforms, and authors to access new and growing markets and reach larger audiences and new revenue opportunities.

Key Insights

The report covers the following key insights:

• Driving Factors, Opportunities, Latest Trends, and Restraining Factors
• Influence by Key Players and Key Industrial Developments
• Innovation: AR/VR Integration, AI and Personalisation, and Accessibility
• Key Growth Areas: Subscription Services, Audiobooks, Interactive Storytelling, And Others

Segmentation

Analysis by Platform

By platform, the eBook market is divided into smartphone, tablet, and laptop.

• Smartphone: They have the highest penetration in the market and hence are the most accessible platform for eBook consumption. These are considered perfect for reading on the go, during commutes, or short breaks. A wide range of eBook reader apps are available, offering diverse features and functionalities that offer seamless integration with other mobile activities such as social media and messages.
• Tablet: Unlike for smartphones, users can enjoy a more comfortable reading experience from a larger screen of a tablet, especially for long books. Enhanced visual clarity and sharper text for a more enjoyable reading experience. They enable multimedia features such as audio and video, enabling interactional storytelling and are used for entertainment and media consumption, including eBooks.
• Laptop: Larger screen size and keyboard make it easy to do in-depth reading, notetaking, and research work on a laptop. These are well-suited for reading lengthy documents, textbooks, and research papers and work seamlessly, allowing for taking notes. Readers are allowed to multitask while reading, such as browsing the internet or music.

Analysis by End User

Based on end user, the market is divided into individual/personal, educational institutions, media and entertainment, and others (manufacturing).

• Individual/Personal: Individual consumers purchase eBooks for personal enjoyment, leisure reading, self-improvement, and similar purposes. Readers of all ages, interests, and reading levels with different genre preferences, format preferences, and reading experiences buy ebooks due to their affordability, accessibility, convenience, and personalised reading experiences.
• Educational Institutions: Schools and their colleges, universities, and libraries use the eBooks for teaching, learning, and research purposes due to cost-effectiveness, accessibility, and digital learning resources. These books are centered on textbooks, scholarly articles, and educational resources. The increasing adoption of digital libraries, online learning platforms, and interactive learning tools drives segmental expansion.
• Media and Entertainment: The segment covers those publishing, authoring, and creating content that is standalone, replaceable, downloadable, portable, web-based, or digitally encoded to be perceived, accessed, or executed in a device-independent manner for printing, viewing, or playback from personal computers (PC), other computers, software applications, or any other suitable distribution method or processes. These also include traditional publishing houses, independent authors, or online publishing.

Regional Analysis

Based on region, the eBook market has been studied across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and the Middle East & Africa.

This market has been dominated by North America, especially the U.S. It has a strong digital infrastructure, high internet penetration, and a tech-savvy population, being a preferable condition for the adoption of eBooks. The market has the presence of major tech giants—Amazon and Apple—with their power platforms such as Kindle and iBooks. In addition, a great deal of eBook content has been created and distributed as a result of the region's relatively robust publishing industry—an industry that places strong emphasis on digital innovation.

The market in Europe is highly varied in the extent of product adoption across different countries. Some countries, such as the U.K. and Germany, have fared well, while other countries are still playing up. A multilingual population and a variety of reading habits are the traits of the region. The existence of established publishing houses and a great solidarity on the cultural diversity have fostered a rich and varied eBook environment. Although there are challenges such as language barriers and differences in digital infrastructure between countries, the market growth is hampered.

• As per European Publishers Council (EPC), ebooks accounted for 20% of the total book market in Europe in 2022.

The Asia Pacific market is growing due to a rapidly growing population, fast internet penetration, and an emerging middle class, offering a massive market potential. eBooks are experiencing a recent surge in countries such as China, India, and Korea due to their affordability, accessibility, and coincidentally, the growing use of smartphones and tablets. Besides this, the region's diverse cultural landscape and a focus on education are factors, which are pushing the growth of the market.

Key Players Covered

The report includes the profiles of the following key players:

• Amazon.com Inc. (U.S.)
• Rakuten Kobo Inc. (U.S.)
• Apple Inc. (U.S.)
• Barnes and Noble LLC (U.S.)
• Smashwords Inc. (U.S.)
• Blurb Inc. (U.S.)
• BookBaby (DIY Media Group Inc.) (New Jersey)
• Lulu Press Inc. (North Carolina)
• Macmillan Publishers Ltd (U.S.)
• Scribd Inc. (U.S.)
• Google (U.S.)
• Ingram (U.S.)
• Bright Market, LLC (U.S.)
• Issuu, Inc. (U.S.)

Key Industry Developments

• In January 2025, Bookshop.org launched its eBook platform. By allowing independent bookshops to sell eBook’s directly to customers, this move gives the new direct competitors in the eBook arena, independent stores, the ability to compete more effectively than mega online retailers such as Amazon and Apple.
• In December 2024, Australian literary works were revived in the form of eBooks with the 'Untapped' project. With this initiative, a huge gap in the Australian market is being filled, enabling people to more readily access valuable and culturally important Australian literature. 'Digitising these works' makes them part of the ''Untapped'—preserved and made discoverable.
• In April 2023, the market has seen a huge development in the form of Rakuten Kobo’s expansion of its Kobo Plus subscription service. This move was an attempt to increase the charity’s service value proposition by increasing its catalogue and providing more competitive pricing. Kobo Plus aimed to increase the number of available titles as well as third-party options with more flexible subscription criteria to attract a more diverse audience and to compete better with rival services such as Amazon's Kindle Unlimited.