E-book Sales to Explode in China

Chinese hi-tech firm Hanwang Technology said it expected shipments of its e-book readers to increase 400 percent this year, as demand for the portable reading device grows both domestically and overseas, the China Daily reported Thursday.

The company plans to sell 2 million e-book readers this year as compared with 500,000 in 2009, the newspaper quoted Liu Yingjian, president of Hanwang as saying.

According to research firm Display Search, China's e-reader sales will grow from 800,000 units in 2009 to 3 million units this year, accounting for 20 percent of global e-reader sales, the newspaper said.

Hanwang claims to control 95 percent of China's e-book market, and 20 percent of its products were sold abroad, mainly in Russia, Italy and Spain.

According to Liu, foreign revenue will make up 40 percent of Hanwang's total revenue this year, as it provides a cheaper alternative to Amazon's popular Kindle e-book reader.

Amazon, Sony and Samsung are currently the world's top producers of e-book readers, yet none of their products are officially available in China, partly due to the lack of support from domestic telecom carriers and opposition from copyright holders, the newspaper said.