Some interesting and, we hope, reliable data has just come to hand from Sony. They’ve sold 300,000 Readers since the launch of the original model in October 2006. In addition, they’ve sold 3 million ebooks through their associated store, an average of 10 per Reader. Sony currently has 
57,000 ebooks in its online store.
Most of these sales would be from the US but reports from Waterstones who sell the Reader in the UK are encouraging. Waterstones spokesperson Jon Howells said the UK chain has sold “many, many thousands”. He added, “We are really, really pleased with the success, it’s been fabulous and way beyond expectations.” The Reader was launched mid-year in the UK.
Meanwhile, the sales of Amazon’s Kindle are still a guessing game. On the first anniversary since its launch, CNN ran a story which claims, presumably from a reliable source, “more than a quarter million” Kindles have been sold.
All of this indicates solid progress but, in the great scheme of things, still tiny sales.