E-readers: It's a two-horse race

????A ChangeWave survey finds Apple's iPad gaining fast on Amazon's Kindle

????The e-reader market has become a two horse race between the Amazon (AMZN) Kindle and the Apple (AAPL) iPad, according to a ChangeWave survey of 2,812 American consumers released Tuesday.

????Demand is strong, with 5% of respondents saying they are Very Likely to buy an e-Reader and 10% Somewhat Likely over the next 90 days.

????But the race is going Apple's way.

????"The Amazon Kindle (47%; down 15-pts) is hanging on to a rapidly diminishing lead over the Apple iPad (32%; up 16-pts) among current e-Reader owners," writes research director Paul Carton, who notes that the iPad's share of the overall market has doubled since August. Trailing far behind are the Sony (SNE) Reader (5%) and the Barnes & Noble (BKS) Nook (4%).

????Among the iPad's advantages, according to the survey:

????? Higher satisfaction ratings (75% very satisfied, vs. 54% for Kindle)

????? Broader range of reading material (iPad owners are nearly five times more like to read newspapers and magazines, and 15 times more likely to read blogs and newsfeeds)

????? Higher on the holiday wish list (42% most likely to buy an iPad vs. 33% for Kindle)

????It's all laid out in the charts below the fold. The full report is available here.