E-Books in Korea

A very interesting article was published recently by Hankyureh which highlighted how tablet PCs have change the attitude of people towards e-books in less than a year. Tablet PCs are a common sight and Kyobo Book Store announced that e-book sales have increased 6 times in the first quarter of this year. Statistics from online mobile device application stores also reveal the popularity of e-books. Among Korean application sellers, Apple’s App Store recorded sales of 16,440 e-books and 7,260 educational books, while T store sold 20,596 e-books and 5,068 educational and foreign language books. Analysis by experts says that South Korea, where the growth rate for smart devices is high, is entering the tablet PC e-book era directly, without going through an era, like that in the United States, of dedicated “electronic ink” readers such as the Kindle. The market for “self-publishing” services, which allow users to make their own books, is also growing such as textore, Autopub and Bucci, have also appeared.