Amazon Kindle and Apple iPad dominate Christmas gift lists

Amazon's Kindle accounted for 92 per cent of over 1.3 million e-reader devices sold in the run-up to Christmas, according to figures released by market research firm YouGov.

The figures were based on a survey of 2,012 men and women who were polled on the presents they had received over the festive period, which equated to one of the popular e-readers being sold for every 40 adults in the UK.

Marek Vaygelt, head of technology and telecoms consulting at YouGov, said the figures underline the demand for e-reader devices from consumers and said they would be heartening news for the publishing industry.

"This is finally the year when the late-medieval technology of the printing press was challenged by a 21st century, digital alternative," he said.

"Amazon has done a remarkable job of selling the benefits of e-readers and the upside for the publishing industry is that it appears e-reader owners, at least in the early days, buy more e-books than the printed books they purchased before acquiring an e-reader."

Interestingly, women were more likely to receive a Kindle, with 61 per cent of devices sold given to women, while those over 55 years old were twice as likely to receive one as those in the 18-24 age bracket.

Meanwhile, Apple continued to dominate the tablet market, accounting for 72 per cent of the 640,000 devices given to adults in the UK over Christmas, around 460,000, with 60 per cent of iPads given to women.

The figures underline the continued growth of tablet devices, after new research by market research firm NPD DisplaySearch said tablet sales grew a massive 256 per cent in 2011 to nearly 73 million units.