Reuters: “E-readers grapple with a future on the shelf”

Now electronic paper companies like E Ink are scrabbling for new ways to sell the technology or in some cases, are pulling the plug entirely.
A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that of those Americans over 30 who read e-books, less than half do so on an e-reader. For those under 30, the number falls to less than a quarter. Jeremy Wagstaff

I find the statements in this article a little hard to believe, since they are contradicted by other studies I saw lately:

• A research paper published by Google on the usage of tablets in the US shows that reading books is by far not a frequent activity on tablets (30.3% of the participants mentioned doing that on a tablet; reading only accounts for 3.5% of the incidences of table use in the study). So if Americans don’t read on tablets and don’t read on e-book readers, how are they consuming e-books?
• On the other hand a poll on Ars Technica shows a majority of respondents using primarily e-book readers (31.96% using the Kindle, overall 43.83% prefer e-ink devices), with tablets in a distant second place (18.29% for the iPad, 9.72% Android tablets).
• Another poll on Goodreads, a popular social network dedicated to readers, shows an even greater preference for e-readers: 76.6% versus only 23.4% for the iPad.

Dedicated e-book readers my be slowing down and becoming a niche, but I don’t see them going away anytime soon. I think avid readers will continue to prefer the extended battery life and portability and the distraction-free environment of e-ink readers over tablets.