Amazon says Kindle Fire takes 22% of US tablet market, won't disclose sales

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
Amazon on Thursday issued a press release boasting that its Kindle Fire has accounted for 22 percent of tablet sales in the U.S., but still did not publicly state exactly how many tablets the company has sold.

The press release also noted that the current Kindle Fire is out of stock at Amazon's website, but with a media event scheduled for next week, it's widely believed that the online retailer is simply winding down inventory before launching a new model. The event will be held next Thursday at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif.

The Seattle-based operation also boasted that the Kindle Fire has been the No. 1 best-selling product on Amazon since its launch less than a year ago. Ten of the top 10 best selling items on Amazon have also been Kindle devices and content.

"We?re grateful to the millions of customers who have made Kindle Fire the most successful product launch in the history of Amazon," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO. "This has been a big year for digital products on Amazon—all of the top 10 sellers on Amazon.com since Kindle Fire launched just less than a year ago are digital products. Kindle Fire is sold out, but we have an exciting roadmap ahead—we will continue to offer our customers the best hardware, the best prices, the best customer service, the best cross-platform interoperability, and the best content ecosystem."

Though the Kindle Fire made a splash when it debuted last year, the tablet market is still dominated by Apple's iPad. The latest data from IDC released earlier this month found that the iPad accounted for 68 percent of all tablets shipped in the second quarter of 2012.



The Kindle Fire got off to a strong start last holiday season, but demand for the device quickly collapsed, as customer satisfaction with Amazon's low-priced device was about half that of Apple's third-generation iPad, according to research from ChangeWave.

With the Kindle Fire now nearly a year old, the device faces stiff competition from Google's new Nexus 7. The Google device, built by Asus, features the same 7-inch screen size as well as an identical $199 price, but has a much faster quad-core processor and runs Jelly Bean, the latest version of the Android mobile operating system.

Rumors have suggested that Amazon plans to continue offering the existing Kindle Fire at a reduced price of $149, while a new model will take its place at the $199 price point. One report issued in July claimed Amazon will launch at least three new Kindle Fire models this fall: an entry level device with a 1,024-by-600-pixel display and no camera, a 1,280-by-800 model with a camera, and a 1,280-by-800 version with both a camera and 4G LTE wireless connectivity.

Apple, meanwhile, is rumored to introduce its own smaller tablet this fall — a so-called "iPad mini" with a 7.85-inch display. The company is expected to hold a media event to unveil the device in October.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 31


    Can anybody do a sales estimate based on "22% share of U.S. market?"

  • Reply 2 of 31
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    Amazon on Thursday issued a press release boasting that its Kindle Fire has accounted for 22 percent of tablet sales in the U.S., but still did not publicly state exactly how many tablets the company has sold.


     


    That says it all...

  • Reply 3 of 31
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    "Yeah, we sold that many. Yep. We did."


     


    "…"


     


    "No, really, we did. We have papers to prove it. On my desk, back at the office. One copy, so we can't risk showing you." 

  • Reply 4 of 31
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    If its so popular why doesn't Amazon just provide sales figures? What's there to hide?

    Ad how are they coming up with 22%? Percent of what? Since Apple is the only company to really provide sales figures how do we know how much the US market is?
  • Reply 5 of 31
    muppetrymuppetry Posts: 3,331member


    Perhaps they mean 22% of Amazon tablet sales in the US.  They are certainly in a position to measure that, but not to assume that it reflects the overall US market.

  • Reply 7 of 31


    Well considering no one buys Android tablets at all, and iPad is supposedly what? 70% of the tablet space, I guess it's *possible*. I do see them a lot when I fly, not much otherwise. Meh.

  • Reply 8 of 31
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    rogifan wrote: »
    If its so popular why doesn't Amazon just provide sales figures? What's there to hide?
    Ad how are they coming up with 22%? Percent of what? Since Apple is the only company to really provide sales figures how do we know how much the US market is?

    Because Amazon is playing the same game as Samsung. When they're trying to make it look like they're very successful, they lead the press on with all sorts of teasers about how great their sales are and never correct the analysts' estimates.

    Then, when they're sued and have to pay a per-device royalty, they publish the real numbers which are only a small percentage of the numbers they let everyone believe just a few weeks earlier.
  • Reply 9 of 31

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    "Yeah, we sold that many. Yep. We did."


     


    "…"


     


    "No, really, we did. We have papers to prove it. On my desk, back at the office. One copy, so we can't risk showing you." 



    "My dog ate it. Honest."

  • Reply 10 of 31


    For me I look at the Fire as more of an E-Reader that does some light web-sufing than I do a full-on tablet like the iPad. I have both the Fire and iPad but mainly use my Fire as an e-reader than anything else so in that regard I'm quite pleased with it. When I want to get some good work done then I use the iPad.

  • Reply 11 of 31
  • Reply 12 of 31

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleGreen View Post


    According to one estimate,


     


    http://paidcontent.org/2012/08/30/amazon-says-kindle-fire-makes-up-22-of-u-s-tablet-sales/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OmMalik+%28GigaOM%3A+Tech%29


     


    Amazon sold 6.1 Kindle Fires in 9 months.


     


    Not particularly impressive.



     


    "6.1 Kindle Fires"? I didn't know you could sell 0.1.


     


    I've never seen a Kindle Fire out in the wild. I may have seen my first in-use non-iPad tablet the other day at the airport, but I could be mistaken.


     


    iPads? I see those all the time. Airports. Bars. Friends' couches. Cruise ships. Airplanes. Meetings. Etc.

  • Reply 13 of 31
    lvidallvidal Posts: 158member
    I don't believe any word. That's all vapour. Amazon thinks that they could convince everybody without real numbers in these days?
  • Reply 14 of 31

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by PotatoLeekSoup View Post


     


    "6.1 Kindle Fires"? I didn't know you could sell 0.1.




    #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }

     


    Perhaps the .1 represents a new screen size.  Just part of the big-Android-phone small-Android-tablet trend. image


    #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }

     
  • Reply 15 of 31


    Bulls hit!


     


    BTW, has anyone heard anything about how well the Google Nexus 7 is selling... it seems awful quiet!

  • Reply 16 of 31
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post


    Bulls hit!


     


    BTW, has anyone heard anything about how well the Google Nexus 7 is selling... it seems awful quiet!



     


    ...selling...quiet...  Yeah, they go together. :)

  • Reply 17 of 31
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by Napoleon_PhoneApart View Post

    "My dog ate it. Honest."


     


    "We threw it on the Fire. It's growing like mad!"

  • Reply 18 of 31
    pendergastpendergast Posts: 1,358member
    muppetry wrote: »
    Perhaps they mean 22% of Amazon tablet sales in the US.  They are certainly in a position to measure that, but not to assume that it reflects the overall US market.

    This seems more likely, based on their wording.

    I'm guessing Amazon doesn't sell many iPads, instead selling cheap Asus, etc. type tablets, of which the Fire is the best seller with 22% of all their sales.
  • Reply 19 of 31


    Piece of junk. I know one person who has one. He is, admittedly, the cheapest man in the world.


     


    He shares it with his wife and kids, who complain about it constantly.


     


    He doesn't care, because its cheap.

  • Reply 20 of 31
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member


    Why should anybody believe what these unreliable Android makers claim, as long as they are afraid to release the sales figures?


     


    Show proof, or STFU.

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