Kindle No 1 Seller For Amazon
Amazon on Thursday announced its Kindle electronic reader as the company’s best-selling product.
“Kindle has become the number one bestselling item by both unit sales and dollars — not just in our electronics store but across all product categories on Amazon.com,” said Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos.
Bezos also said the price of a new international version of the Kindle would be cut from $279 to $259.
The announcement coincided with Amazon’s reported 68 percent net profit increase in the third quarter to $199 million, or 45 cents per share. The company’s profits beat out Wall Street analyst expectations of 33 cents per share.
Amazon’s revenue rose 28 percent to $5.45 billion. The announcement drove shares up 14.77 percent in after-hours trading to a new high of $107.25.
The company has a tradition of keeping its Kindle sales figures out of the public eye, but AFP reports Forrester Research believes the e-reader holds a 60 percent share of the US e-reader market, while Sony’s Reader holds 35 percent.
What’s more, Forrester expects three million e-readers to be sold in the US this year, which represents an increased forecast over the initial two million units.
For the Christmas season, Amazon expects fourth-quarter sales to be between $8.1 billion and $9.1 billion.
Chief Financial Officer Tom Szkutak said that consumers are continuing to purchase goods on Amazon.com because it maintains low prices and a massive selection.
"That’s certainly helping growth," Szkutak told reporters during a conference call.
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