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ONLINE RETAILER AMAZON says 2011 was the best holiday ever for its Kindle e-readers and tablet computers.
Amazon.com said today that people bought more than 1 million Kindles each week in December.
The company has never released specific sales figures for the Kindle. Since the launch of the first Kindle in 2007, the franchise has grown to include several e-readers and the Kindle Fire tablet.
The Kindle Fire, which is only for sale in America, is expected to be one of the first true competitors to Apple’s iPad. Amazon says the Fire has been the best-selling product on its site since its introduction 13 weeks ago.
Even so, the iPad is still expected outsell all other tablets, including the Kindle Fire which is less than half the price of the iPad.
In a statement, Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon thanked customers worldwide “for making this the best holiday ever for Kindle”.
Christmas Day was the biggest day ever for Kindle book downloads, the company said.
(Additional reporting by Christine Bohan)
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Got a 3G Kindle myself, must say I am well impressed at d mo..
Was thinking of picking one of these things up. Are they worth it?
Yes, for a number of reasons: As a reader it’s very good, and personally I now prefer it to books (each to their own, but even if you prefer real paper it’s a readable replacement); and despite the best efforts of publishers, I still find the price of ebooks very competitive (plus, the ease of availability is great – Good luck to you buying a book anywhere else on Christmas day, or at 10pm in the evening.)
Got mine two years, best buy I’ve made in a long time.
(And no, I don’t own shares in Amazon ;-)
Well worth it . Easy on the eyes , great choice for any books, and light to carry. I love reading , I love my books but Kindle is fantastic. I got mine as agift in October.
Thanks lads, ye may have just sold me on it!
I got one as a gift. Best present ever. Doesn’t replace real books though
Kindle me bolix apple all the way never be matched
Apple don’t sell a dedicated reader…
I like Apple as much as the next guy…hell I’m typing this on my new 27″ iMac but I honestly have to say that for reading the kindle beats the iPad. Why? e-ink.
e-ink is like reading a normal book, its easy on the eyes, the screen isn’t reflective in sunlight, the battery usage is a few weeks of normal reading on a full charge. The iPad is nice and does the other things its designed to do (video’s etc) but the likes of the Kindle 6″ is farrrr more suitable as a reading device.
If you want something just for reading books.newspapers etc then you are an idiot to waste your time on a iPad, its screen is unsuitable for long term usage, the battery usage sucks and Amazon have a better library selection then Apple.
The end of the paperback book…
I was on the tube this morning and I noticed there were Kindles everywhere! Far more than I would have noticed before Christmas.
I have both Kindle 4 and IPad 2.Both are great for what they are designed to do.Kindle’s reading experience is second to none, while iPad is great for web browsing,reading online and some apps are really cool.Both are high quality products which shouldn’t be even compared.
I got a Kindle this Christmas and I love it. I love to read and really like the feel of an actual book, but the e-ink is so easy to read I would definitely consider buying more in electronic form. I will never stop buying physical books but I think I will buy ebooks as the cheaper option and if I am really impressed will buy a hardcopy for my shelf. I think people who complain about the kindle aren’t avid readers anyway, it’s technology that let’s you read books, that’s its purpose. I love the fact that it doesn’t makes noises, vibrate, take photos or interrupt my reading with a window telling me someone text me.
One of the millions who
Received one as a gift. Fantastic resource, placing a whole world of books, info and knowledge at your finger tips. However i will always love books and everything about them. Kindle compliments the traditional book rather than replaces it.
gone are the days of being overcharged and heavily taxed on paperbacks. gotta move with the times. Im getting mine next week.
I’d highly recommend it…..my 10 year old son got one from Santa & he hasn’t left it down since. I was spending approx €7 to €9 per paperback book that would last him 3 days so it worked out very expensive…..it’s much cheaper & I don’t have a pile of books cluttering the house….,
To be fair, you don’t pay any tax on paperbacks as they’re 0% rated for VAT. Meanwhile, ebooks get charged the top rate of VAT.
I’ve had my kindle since Christmas last year. Best present I ever got. The Kindle does for books what iPods did for music.
I have several hundred books on my kindle and I’m downloading more every week. Great selection of known authors and the freebies are better than you’d expect.
As a great book lover I spurned this development initially but the Kindle is really fantastic and whilst I wish I could say “bring on more trees” the fact is the day of a paper book – or anything in ink – is over. God help us though if we ever lose the ability to create electricity.
I million sold a week all of December and I got none lol lol but my sister got one and is very pleased with it My husband got me a ARCHOS TABLET which suits me cos I do not read much so my tablet suits me and I can fit it into my handbag too so when my sister and I are together she can read and I can browse the web lol lol Enjoy your KINDLE EVERYONE AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR
That’s nice. Thanks for sharing…
I don’t see the point of a kindle reader when u can just download the app on your smartphone or tablet
I have the ipad2 and a kindle, and there is no comparison between the actual iPad and the app. The kindle uses e-ink which is much more Like a real book and much easier on the eyes than the iPad screen.
used to think the same until my brother got me an actual k
I downloaded the Kindle App on my Samsung Galaxy S2 and I am well impressed!
I bought a Kobo reader on ebay because it’s a more flexible reader than the Kindle, which is tied to amazon and can display a smaller number of book formats. I had a Sony Reader first, but I wore it out. Ebooks are fantastic, but they don’t replace real books completely. I still buy books with peculiar formatting (like Daneilowski’s House of Fallen Leaves), art books, or other books with lots of pictures.
Kindle isn;’t tied to Amazon, there are plenty of books you can download and either e-mail to or just copy over to your kindle with no problems at all.
I would agree ebooks are nice but certainly not suitable for books with pictures
Thanks for the info Barry, Still Happy with my Kobo! Ebooks are really nice pieces of equipment, whichever one you buy. Can’t bring it to the beach though!
I got a kindle as a present last April and love it ! its easy to read, easy to carry around and amazon has a good choice of books available. If you like factual stuff hard copies usually have a few pictures which the Kindle can’t can’t cope with so that is a slight draw back. Overall i have bought far more eBooks than hard copies since I got it so I guess its working for its intended purpose
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