As Phil Wahba reports for Reuters, “Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. is testing Wall Street’s patience by repeatedly touting the success of its Kindle electronic reader without providing specific sales figures.”
“In one press release after another in recent months, Amazon has talked up the Kindle’s best-seller status across all product categories,” Wahba reports. “On the day after Christmas, the retailer said the Kindle was the most-purchased gift in its history and sales of its electronic books surpassed physical book sales on the holiday itself. Previously, Amazon said the device had its best monthly sales ever in December, with only half of the month gone by at that point.”
Wahba reports, “In neither of these most recent examples did Amazon say how many Kindles or e-books were sold, nor by how much sales rose.”
Wahba reports, “Forrester estimates that the Kindle, which was launched in 2007, has a U.S. market share of about 55 percent, ahead of devices from Sony Corp and Barnes & Noble Inc’s recently launched Nook. It says 2.5 million Kindles have been sold to date, based on consumer surveys. Investment firm Cowen & Co. expects Amazon to sell 500,000 of the devices in its holiday quarter alone.”
MacDailyNews Note: Forrester’s figures measure single-function eReaders. They do not include iPhone and iPod touch. That’s the only way Kindle can get 55%. And the Kindle app for iPhone and iPod touch is the only logical way Amazon’s sales of electronic books could’ve surpassed their physical book sales.
Wahba continues, “In 2010, Forrester anticipates consumers to buy another 6 million e-readers and the field to become more crowded. Apple Inc. is expected to unveil a tablet in 2010 that would have e-reader functions.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple has already unveiled devices that have e-reader functions, including Amazon’s Kindle app itself. And Apple hasn’t sold just a meager 2.5 million devices with grand hopes of adding another paltry 500,000 during the holiday quarter. Apple will sell upwards of 20 million iPhone and iPod touch devices in the holiday quarter alone; 40 times the Kindle sales estimated by analysts. 40 times. To date, adding in the holiday quarter estimates, Apple has sold roughly 75 million iPhones and iPod touches combined, all of which, providing they are running at least iPhone OS 2.0, are capable of using Amazon’s Kindle app, not to mention a huge selection of other e-reader apps. 3 million Kindles vs. 75 million iPhones and iPod touches. Let’s face facts, folks, the far and away #1 electronic reading device in the world is from Apple, not Amazon.
Forget the rumored Apple tablet, Apple already has two Kindle (hardware) killers, iPhone and iPod touch, and they’re doing quite the job on their own. When and if Apple’s tablet appears… well, let’s just say that Amazon should focus all of their attention on their Kindle software for Apple hardware than on Kindle hardware going forward.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The jig is up, Amazon.
If Kindle sales are so fabulous, why not provide the numbers? Or are they merely trying to fool people into buying Kindles by claiming it’s a best-seller? (“See, everyone else is getting one!”) That kind of fraud could come back to bite them, big-time.
I own a Kindle, actually 2 of them the new larger DX and the original model launched a couple of years back. I also own an iPod touch and an iPhone 3GS with the Kindle app installed. BTW, I also own an Aluminum Unibody MacBook, a Quad Core Mac Pro, an Apple TV, a Dual Band AirPort Extreme Base Station, and Mac Mini- so I’m no MS troll.
Maybe you don;t get the Kindle which is fine, but I like the e-ink display and the size is better suited to reading than the iPhone, especially to 48 year old eyes. The Kindle does exactly what it’s supposed to do and my only complaint is the coverage of the Whispernet 3G data service.
I realize that this is MacDaily News, but a little real world reality should intrude. A $1,000 Apple media tablet and a $250 Kindle e-book reader are not really in direct competition. I couldn’t give a rip about a color display or whatever on my Kindle- that’s not what it’s for.
Maybe it’s not your cup of tea, but then neither is a $1,000 glorified iPhone one of mine.
The new Kindle is a thing of beauty, created in Cupertino, BTW.
My son in law gave me a kindle for Xmas. I gave to my grandson yesterday. Big ass thing to lug around. Grayscale only. The islatetabletpod better have a lot more features than the kindle or I am not getting one. And I have bought almost every Apple product since 1984. Got a closet full of relics in fact.
The Kindle’s real challenge is going to be – ironically – the same challenge that Apple faced with the original Mac. The other eReaders are essentially open – the Kindle is closed. Once publishers get their act together and support the others, Amazon will have some challenges.
As for Apple’s iSlate – I want it to be successful, but an eReader competitor it won’t be. In fact, I still have no idea what it’s supposed to be; I sure hope Steve’s got something amazing in the works that the rest of us haven’t figured out or it’ll never be more than a niche product for fanboys.
I am old. I have both the Kindle and an Iphone. The print on the iphone is much clearer and brighter than that on the Kindle but the screen is so much smaller. I can’t wait for the tablet because I hope that it will function just like the iphone but with a bigger screen. By the time my kindle dies I will be ready for the tablet.
Nice try kindle! Anyone can say they’re the best seller, but 40 million ipods is quite a different story than 500,000 kindles. Now sit back and imagine when the ipad comes out, with it’s native 256 shades of color, as well as internet and video capabilities, not to mention that it will only weigh 4 ounces?!?
If you look at the Amazon press release, guess what the second best electronics Christmas seller was after the Kindle?
The 8 gig iPod touch.
Wonder what the results would be if all 3 versions of the Touches were added together…