The Open eBook Forum (OeBF), the electronic publishing industry's trade and standards organization, is reporting eBook sales revenues are up by 30% and unit sales up by 40% over the same period in 2002. This compares to an annual growth rate of just about 5% in traditional print publishing.

The Open eBook Forum revealed detailed statistics on the current state of eBooks and a comprehensive industry analysis in its first quarterly eBook and eDocument Publishing and Retail Statistics. Compiled from data submitted by 34 of the world's leading publishers and retailers, OeBF claims the analysis marks the first-ever quantitative assessment of the electronic publishing industry.

"Those of us in the industry have been seeing real signs of growth from every direction," said OeBF Executive Director Nick Bogaty. "Libraries are a huge growth category as they look to revitalize themselves in the age of Google; school systems are finding that today's kids like to read when the media is digital; and consumers are snatching up better devices and more titles as fast as they can. But until now, all of the evidence of growth has been anecdotal. The goal of this program is to put some concrete numbers behind the successes we're seeing in this maturing industry."