Amazon boasts about Kindle's strong Cyber Monday, still withholds sales figures
Amazon's Kindle platform saw its biggest sales day ever during the "Cyber Monday" shopping event, though the online retailer still refuses to disclose any actual sales data.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, Amazon boasted that Cyber Monday 2012 was the "biggest day ever for Kindle sales worldwide." Sales were boosted in particular by a $129 price for the Kindle Fire.
The top four spots on Amazon's worldwide best sellers list have been Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fire models since the product lineup was revamped nearly three months ago. And nine of the top 10 best selling products on Amazon since Sept. 6 have been Kindles, Kindle accessories and digital content.
"Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fires have held the top 4 spots on the Amazon worldwide best sellers list since launch, and that was before the busiest shopping weekend of the year," said Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. "We?re excited that customers made this Black Friday and Cyber Monday the best ever for Kindle worldwide?Cyber Monday was the biggest day ever for Kindle sales, and we?re looking forward to millions of customers opening a new Kindle this holiday season."
Amazon has repeatedly bragged about sales of the Kindle lineup, and even claimed in August that the Kindle Fire accounted for 22 percent of the U.S. tablet market. But Amazon has failed to publicly state how many units it has sold of any device in its Kindle lineup, which includes e-ink readers and touchscreen tablets with color LCD displays.
Amazon is believed to make very little, if any, money off of its Kindle lineup, instead aiming to undercut competitors and expand its lineup in an effort to tie customers into the online retailer's vast ecosystem of digital content.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, Amazon boasted that Cyber Monday 2012 was the "biggest day ever for Kindle sales worldwide." Sales were boosted in particular by a $129 price for the Kindle Fire.
The top four spots on Amazon's worldwide best sellers list have been Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fire models since the product lineup was revamped nearly three months ago. And nine of the top 10 best selling products on Amazon since Sept. 6 have been Kindles, Kindle accessories and digital content.
"Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fires have held the top 4 spots on the Amazon worldwide best sellers list since launch, and that was before the busiest shopping weekend of the year," said Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. "We?re excited that customers made this Black Friday and Cyber Monday the best ever for Kindle worldwide?Cyber Monday was the biggest day ever for Kindle sales, and we?re looking forward to millions of customers opening a new Kindle this holiday season."
Amazon has repeatedly bragged about sales of the Kindle lineup, and even claimed in August that the Kindle Fire accounted for 22 percent of the U.S. tablet market. But Amazon has failed to publicly state how many units it has sold of any device in its Kindle lineup, which includes e-ink readers and touchscreen tablets with color LCD displays.
Amazon is believed to make very little, if any, money off of its Kindle lineup, instead aiming to undercut competitors and expand its lineup in an effort to tie customers into the online retailer's vast ecosystem of digital content.
Comments
No sales figures = third place at best...
Love Amazon but there's a flaw in Jeff Bezos' equation.
(A Kindle IS great as an e-reader, but not so great at other things, and not AS great an e-reader as an iPad, which has Kindle plus other book sources... plus an unmatched library of quality apps. Still, if a simple e-reader is most of what you want, and you don%u2019t care that it falls short in other areas, a Kindle%u2019s price is right.)
I like it when Jeff Bezos is asked how many Kindles Amazon has sold. He always says, "We sold a hell of a lot of Kindles. Way more than last year." The analysts all pat him on his back and raise Amazon's target prices another $10. If he's asked an actual figure, he always tells them that he can't divulge that information because it is top secret. It's actually to Amazon's advantage that they never tell how many Kindles are being sold. That way Wall Street can't possibly have any expectations on an indeterminate number. That's what Apple needs to do with its own sales numbers and guidance. That's the reason why Jeff Bezos is Businessperson of the Year and why Tim Cook is the Doofus of the Year. Amazon is losing money and the share price is going up. Apple is making plenty of money and the share price is going down. Go figure.
Pathetic and cowardly!
If they had such strong sales, then why are they afraid to release the numbers?
Either show the proof, or STFU!
Android manufacturers all seem to share the same thing in common. Almost none of them ever release any sales figures, because they're pathetic little chickenshit cowards! Boasting about stuff, yet too afraid to release figures?
And if there are any figures released, it's always, units shipped, units sitting unsold on dusty store shelves, not actual units bought.
Android is pure garbage and Fandroids are moronic fools.
The sale is actually on the 2nd generation Kindle Fire, not 1st generation (and not Kindle Fire HD either). That's $129 down from $159.
In fact KF was the most searched term yesterday. People wanted to buy 1 for their kids.
Yes, at $129 this is a device for <10 year-old kids. I know some posters here say they've no problem buying an iPad mini for their kids but let's face it this forum's population is not very representative of the general public. A $129 KF is good price for an entry-level tablet for kids, especially with the freetime app (which I do wish iPad would have this kind of app for parental control).
Originally Posted by macaholic_1948
And this isn't monopolistic behavior how? Trying to drive business away from your competitors by selling at a loss. By locking your customers into one platform for all their purchases. That's no predatory?
"It's not because Apple did it and they didn't and Apple is bad and price fixes books and Amazon is good."
Reads like a five-year-old, dunnit? But hey, that's the argument.
I know it's widely believed that Amazon makes very little or no money on the Kindle, but is this true worldwide? Aren't there anti-dumping laws and other tariffs to prevent a foreign manufacturer from doing this and undercutting the competition? I know in the US it is totally legal, but outside the US? What does the Kindle sell for outside the US?
Withholding sales figures would not help Apple. Heck, they already refuse to provide projections - so the analysts make them up. If they withheld actual sales figures, as well, the analysts would make up the worst possible figures they could come up with.
The same thing happened in the 90s on Mac software. SPA consistently released preliminary figures showing that Mac software sales were declining. Later, after the actual figures came out, it turned out that Mac software sales had actually been increasing - yet SPA never bothered to issue a retraction of their earlier figures. The game has always been to make things up to make Apple look bad.
Of course it's predatory. Too bad the DOJ is more interested in acting as Amazon and Google's lapdog than in doing something about it.
If I remember right, Kindle's only read Amazon's proprietary e-book format (yes/no?). I'm not calling this monopolistic because there are other options to this format. Just like Apple, iPods, and iTunes is not monopolistic because there are other options for people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
Pathetic and cowardly!
If they had such strong sales, then why are they afraid to release the numbers?
Either show the proof, or STFU!
Android manufacturers all seem to share the same thing in common. Almost None of them ever release any sales figures, because they're pathetic little chickenshit cowards! Boasting about stuff, yet too afraid to release figures?
And if there are any figures released, it's always, units shipped, units sitting unsold on dusty store shelves, not actual units bought.
Android is pure garbage and Fandroids are moronic fools.
There, corrected it for you!
There is a major difference. Amazon has a near monopoly in some of their markets and are using the discounted Kindle to keep competitors out. That is illegal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
Of course it's predatory. Too bad the DOJ is more interested in acting as Amazon and Google's lapdog than in doing something about it.
Amazon should have the right to hand these out for free. Its simply a loss-leader.
Hey guys, I had a hell of a weekend. Shagged a few birds, some of which are Hollywood elites...won the lotto, ran for 300 yards in a football game and batted .427 in my company softball tourney.
No, really. I can't show you the proof because it's all secret, but believe me, it's all true.
Take your meds. And who the hell are you that they should release sales numbers for?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
There is a major difference. Amazon has a near monopoly in some of their markets and are using the discounted Kindle to keep competitors out. That is illegal.
I agree that Amazon's monopoly should be addressed by DOJ but they really aren't keeping iPads from reading their e-books since Apple allows the Kindle e-book reader on an iPad. Their pricing scheme for all books could qualify as a monopoly but I don't believe their e-book reader does. Anyone could build a cheap Kindle-format e-book reader to undercut Amazon's Kindle. If Apple wanted to sell the iPad at a loss (whatever that means since analysts never take into account R&D or software development costs), they could and would probably have multiple "millions of customers opening a new Kindle iPad this holiday season." Of course, those pesky analysts would complain about Apple's profit margin and AAPL would tank because iPads are Apple's business not e-books, which is why selling iPads at a loss would hurt Apple while selling Kindle's at a loss won't hurt Amazon that much.
You're right a eInk Kindle isn't as great as an iPad for reading, it's better. Just ask John Gruber.