Slash LaneAmazon had $9.5 billion in sales in its fourth financial quarter, ending Dec. 31 2009, well up from the $6.7 billion the online retailer saw in the fourth quarter of 2008. A big driver for Amazon was its Kindle e-book reader, which CEO Jeff Bezos has sold "millions" since it debuted just over two years ago. No exact figures on hardware sales were provided.
"Millions of people now own Kindles," Bezos said. "And Kindle owners read, a lot. When we have both editions, we sell 6 Kindle books for every 10 physical books. This is year-to-date and includes only paid books — free Kindle books would make the number even higher. It's been an exciting 27 months."
The Kindle and large-screen Kindle DX are available in over 100 countries, and the Kindle iPhone application is available in Apple's App Store in over 60 countries. E-books can be synced between the Kindle reader, PC software, and Apple's iPhone and iPod touch. Kindle software is forthcoming for the Mac and iPad, Amazon said.
There are more than 410,000 books in the U.S. Kindle Store, including 100 of 112 New York Times Bestsellers. The service also offers 8,000 blogs and 130 domestic and international newspapers and magazines.
Apple hopes to counter Amazon with its recently announced iPad. Sporting a 9.7-inch screen and with a starting price of $499, Apple's multimedia, multi-touch device was partially pitched as an e-book and newspaper reader with a vibrant, color screen, compared to the Kindle's black-and-white e-ink display. Some have viewed the iPad as a "Kindle killer."
The iBookstore is a part of Apple's new iBooks app for iPad. The software features a 3D virtual bookshelf displaying a user's personal collection, and allows the purchase of new content from major publishers. Like the Kindle, it will offer content from the New York Times Bestsellers list.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs indicated that books in the iBookstore will be sold at prices that are "the same" as are currently seen on the Kindle. At the moment, new hardcover books in an electronic format sell for $9.99 from Amazon.
Amazon recently announced that it was modifying its revenue sharing model for the Kindle bookstore to a 70-30 split in favor of content providers — identical to Apple's App Store business model. Those who opt for Amazon's new model must price their books between $2.99 and $9.99.
AppleInsider Staff
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
128 Comments
Millions? So really, how much is "millions"? Are we ever going to see some actual numbers for this one-trick pony?
These Kindles are about to got the way of the Dodo come April.
They have a decent head-start on Apple with books. I don't want to buy an actual unit, but when Kindle for Mac app comes out I will buy 1 or 2 books to see what it's like. I travel a lot and I have like 3 boxes of treasured paperbacks I cart around with me. Digital versions sure would be nice but I don't want to end up with a defunct file format.
Millions? So really, how much is "millions"? Are we ever going to see some actual numbers for this one-trick pony?
These Kindles are about to got the way of the Dodo come April.
Apparently this is par for the course for Amazon.
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/we...omments/23857/
Millions? So really, how much is "millions"? Are we ever going to see some actual numbers for this one-trick pony?
These Kindles are about to got the way of the Dodo come April.
I think legally that means more than 2Mm but we're talking over two years so I don't think it's that impressive with the size of the potential market of readers. It seems obvious the iPad will outpace that number quickly, but we'll have to see how many eBooks it sells to be able to make an honest 1:1 comparison as an eReader.
I think the Kindle's market is still pretty solid. eReader enthusiasts may simply not want a device that does other things and eInk is still top dog for reading in direct sunlight.
Maybe a couple reasons Amazon refuses to give a number.
a) Sales aren't that good for a product that has had the market for eReaders perceivably to itself for quite some time.
b) Maybe the notion that the Kindle is selling "millions" is enough to convince someone that it is the default eReader that everyone else owns "so I should too". Which was a fine strategy until the iPad showed up.