POPULAR TOOLS

Amazon celebrates record Kindle sales

Mon Nov 30 2009, 08:51 AM UTC

Sales of Amazon's Kindle e-book reader hit a new high in November, with the device holding steady as Amazon's single best-selling product. Amazon first said the Kindle was outperforming any other product on its site last month, after the device was partly credited for its strong Q3 sales and a 68% year-on-year jump in profits.

Though Amazon will not reveal sales figures it says that the Kindle "continues to be the most wished for, the most gifted, and the number one bestselling product across all product categories on Amazon." The retail giant also claims November Kindle sales broke previous monthly records for the device.

"We're seeing lots of people buying from one to a handful of Kindles as gifts for friends or family, as well as many businesses and other organisations buying Kindles in large quantities for their employees or customers," says the VP of Amazon Kindle, Ian Freed. "It's flying off the shelves faster than any other product Amazon sells".

The success of Amazon's e-book reader comes as major e-book rivals struggle with stock shortages. Many commentators claim that Amazon's early lead, coupled with ongoing strong sales, could help to further cement its place at the top of the e-reader market.

Barnes and Noble said at the weekend that it would delay shipping units of its recently-launched Nook e-reader to shops, in an effort to fulfil its pre-orders over the Christmas period. Earlier this month the retailer suggested that it had sold out of its initial allocation following strong pre-orders, and later slashed its earnings forecast for the current quarter due to higher-than-expected production costs for the device.

Meanwhile Sony, hailed as another key force in the nascent e-reader market, warned earlier this month that it too may not be able to meet demand for its latest Sony Daily Edition Reader. The electronics giant said that pre-orders for its USD399 device would be shipped between mid-December and early January.

Amazon's success with the Kindle follows a strong overall performance on Black Friday – the beginning of the US Christmas shopping season. comScore figures show that Amazon surpassed more than 4m unique site visitors on the popular sale-shopping day, a 28% year-on-year increase on 2008.