The organisers of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, being held in Las Vegas have, for the first time ever set aside a dedicated area for e-book readers. It’s hardly surprising &ndash there are at least two dozen different manufacturers displaying e-book readers at the event.

The heightened level of interest, both from the public and from electronics manufacturers is no big surprise. After all, 2009 was a bumper year for e-book readers. And there’s every indication that 2010 will be even better.

There’s little doubt that a great deal of the credit for this heightened awareness of e-book readers in 2009 should be given to Amazon’s Kindle reader. The Kindle 2.0 launch in February, swiftly backed up by the launch of the larger DX version in June, created a great deal of publicity for e-book readers in general and for the Kindle in particular.

The Kindle rapidly went on to become Amazon’s number one selling product and, during the festive season of 2009, the Kindle became Amazon’s most gifted product ever. Kindle book sales had been running at 35% of all book sales (where a Kindle edition existed). On Christmas day 2009, for the first time ever, Amazon sold more Kindle books than traditional books.

The market for both e-book readers and e-books had been firmly established and now looks likely to enter a period of exponential growth.Currently, Amazon has a 60% share of the American market and Sony has 35%. Clearly there are plenty of other manufacturers who want their slice of the pie. On the face of it, they will have a difficult time considering the dominant position of Amazon – but the market is new and developing rapidly. Rapid expansion seems probable in the near future and the right product at the right time could change everything in an instant.

Apart from electronics manufacturers, there are other parties who have a vested interest in the growth and development of the e-book reader market. Third party manufacturers who produce various accessories – reading lights (e-book readers are not back-lit), covers, chargers, screen protectors etc. – are also benefiting from a market that, as little as a year ago, was simply not in existence. At the moment, Kindle accessories are, understandably, dominant, but as new readers begin to make inroads in the market these will, no doubt, also be catered for.

This is going to be a very successful year both for e-books and e-book readers. Next year’s Consumer Electronics shows will certainly incorporate a dedicated e-book reader section – but it will probably be somewhat increased in size in comparison with 2010.