When reading no longer starts from paper
According to statistics from the Waka e-book platform, Vietnamese people average 13 hours and 15 minutes per week on this platform, surpassing even countries with strong reading traditions such as India (10 hours and 42 minutes), Thailand (9 hours and 24 minutes) or China (8 hours). It is worth mentioning that young people - especially the 18-24 age group - are leading this trend, with 51% of Waka users in the 18-24 age group, followed by the 25-34 age group accounting for 39%.
Vu Quynh Mai (22 years old, Hanoi) said that she mainly maintains the habit of reading books on iPad through online applications. "Not having the need to reread makes paper books quite expensive and take up space. Online books solve this problem and are convenient when you can read them anytime," Mai shared.
Waka's statistics also show that on average, a person reads 3 books per week, equivalent to 12 - 15 books/month. If buying paper books, this spending level is up to about 1,800,000 VND/year, while with the package reading service, users only have to spend much lower costs.
However, digital experiences also reveal certain limitations. In addition to causing eye strain when used for a long time, the content on the platforms also depends on their own ecosystem, not really as diverse as readers expect.
From a trend perspective, Nguyen Ngoc Minh Khue (21 years old, Nghe An) said that reading applications are shifting from a simple model to a multimedia content ecosystem. "Not just text, many platforms have integrated audio and video, making access to content more vivid," Khue said.
Applications such as Fonos, Voiz FM or Waka are becoming familiar destinations for young people, especially those who love audiobooks. The form of "listening books" allows users to take advantage of traveling or doing housework, turning reading into a flexible entertainment activity. This reality shows that, instead of decline, reading culture among young people is being restructured in the direction of adapting to the digital environment.
Subscriber model and content ecosystem
One of the important drivers driving the digital book market is the emergence of the subscription-based business model. Platforms today offer flexible service packages, with popular costs ranging from 50,000 to 150,000 VND per month, or long-term packages with preferential prices.
This model is likened to "Netflix for books", allowing users to access a large content library without buying each individual book title. According to user feedback, this price is relatively suitable for young people's affordability, thereby contributing to forming a habit of consuming copyrighted digital content.
Not only stopping at content distribution, platforms are gradually building a comprehensive ecosystem, integrating ebooks, audiobooks and interactive book formats. This is a trend in line with the digital transformation orientation of the publishing industry, in which electronic books are considered an important "gateway".
According to data from the Vietnam Publishing Association, in the first half of 2025, the rate of electronic publications (calculated by book title) reached about over 15% and this is an important criterion to assess the progress of the publishing industry in digitization. More than 60% of domestic publishers have implemented content digitization, and many units have initially used AI in editing, personalizing reading experiences, analyzing reader needs and producing electronic books.
Meanwhile, according to a report from the Publishing, Printing and Issuing Department, in 2025, the total number of electronic publications including audiobooks, ebooks and video books reached 5,218 publications, an increase of 49.3% compared to the previous year; the number of visits to these products also recorded about 35 million, equivalent to an increase of 66.7%. Notably, by the end of 2025, up to 35 out of 52 units participated in electronic book publishing and distribution activities, showing a clear shift to the digitalization model in the publishing industry.
However, printed books still maintain a separate position. In 2025, printed books reached 42,816 volumes with 457,689,857 copies, down 1.5% in publications and 8.8% in number of copies compared to the previous year. For many readers, the physical experience - from the feeling of flipping pages to the reading space separated from digital devices - still brings values that electronic books find difficult to replace. Therefore, in the medium term, these two forms are predicted to coexist and complement each other.
Copyright challenges and infrastructure completion requirements
Besides the growth potential, the digital book market in Vietnam still faces the biggest challenge: copyright infringement. Electronic book content in the form of PDF or audiobooks being copied and illegally distributed online is still common, reducing the investment motivation of publishers.
According to user feedback, despite being aware of the negative impacts of pirated books, many people still use them due to cost factors or access to content. This reality shows that the gap between awareness and consumer behavior is still significant.
Sharing with reporters, Minh Khue said that the copyright issue does not only come from users. "I see many people still downloading pirated books because official platforms are not really diverse, sometimes they want to read a specific book but do not have copyright or have to buy it retail too expensive. If applications have richer book stores and reasonable subscription prices, I believe young people are willing to pay to support authors," Khue expressed.
She also emphasized that the fact that platforms integrate violation reporting features or create reward mechanisms for users reporting pirated books may contribute to improving this situation.
From a management perspective, Mr. Nguyen Nguyen - Director of the Publishing, Printing and Issuing Department - said that the digital copyright issue is a global challenge and cannot be solved by a single entity. Control requires coordination between management agencies, technology platforms and user awareness.
Sharing with Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen said: "The Publishing, Printing and Issuing Department always accompanies publishing units, building a legal corridor to prevent copyright infringement acts effectively, and at the same time we support and guide units in the publishing sector to implement copyright regulations".
The Director also emphasized that to develop the digital book market, it is necessary to simultaneously invest in technology infrastructure, data systems and tools to analyze reader behavior. This is the foundation for building a modern publishing ecosystem, in which content, technology and market are closely connected.
In addition, the requirement for personalizing experiences is also increasingly clear. Users not only need rich content but also need a suggestion system suitable for personal needs - a factor that is being effectively exploited by many international platforms through artificial intelligence. Major publishers around the world such as: Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan have deployed a comprehensive electronic publishing model, including ebooks, audiobooks, interactive books, virtual reality books (VR books) and integrated multimedia platforms.
In that context, digital books in Vietnam are facing strong development opportunities, but also require a synchronous strategy from infrastructure, legal aspects to the market. Thus, the question is no longer whether young people will read books or not, but how the publishing industry will adapt to a completely new generation of readers?
