As the e-book market has exploded, fueled in large part by the popularity of e-book readers like the Kindle and tablets like the iPad, predictions regarding the so-called “death of print” have only gained steam. But a new report from Neilsen Bookscan indicates that while e-book sales are on the rise, the decline in print sales have actually slowed down, a sign that mainstream readers may not be finished with the print book format just yet.

According to Neilsen Bookscan data analyzed by Publishers Weekly(Opens in a new window), sales of print books in 2012 declined by nine percent, approximately the same rate at which print sales declined in the previous two years. This new data indicates that, despite the increasing popularity of tablets and e-readers, the decline in print book sales versus e-books has stabilized to some degree.  

Within the print book format, predictably, the biggest dip in sales came from the mass market paperback books category, which experienced a 20 percent drop in sales from 2011 to 2012. That format, most popular with casual readers and travelers, is also the category most likely to sway new e-book and tablet readers looking for an easier way to transport and consume books on the go.

And while fans of the fast growing e-book space will point to the numbers as simply a signal of the inevitable disappearance of print, a recent Wall Street Journal piece argues the contrary(Opens in a new window). Drawing data from a recent Pew Research Center study(Opens in a new window), the piece says that 89 percent of regular book readers claim to have read a print book within the last year, while only 30 percent said that they had read an e-book in the same time period.

However, that same report reveals that readers using an e-book or tablet to read a book increased from 18 percent in 2011 to 33 percent in 2012, indicating that although print books are still the most popular book format, e-books continue to creep up the ladder of mainstream reader popularity.