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Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2008 > August > 02 > Entry
how many Kindles has Amazon sold?
Amazon.com rolled out the Kindle, their paperless reading device, late last year. Ever since then, inquiring minds have wondered how many Kindles Amazon has sold?
According to an article in the Washington Post the answer is A LOT:
We Know How Many Kindles Amazon Has Sold: 240,000
Erick Schonfeld
TechCrunch.com
“Ever since Amazon launched the Kindle last November, we’ve been wondering about just how successful it’s been. The electronic book initially sold out and supplies have been tight. The Kindle is such a small part of Amazon’s overall business that the company does not break out how many it’s sold. But we found out anyway: 240,000 Kindles have been shipped since November, according to a source close to Amazon with direct knowledge of the numbers.
Doing a little back of the envelope math, that brings total sales of the device so far to between $86 million and $96 million (the price of the device was reduced to $360 from $400 last May). Then add the amounts spent on digital books, newspapers, and blogs purchased to read on the device, and you get a business that has easily brought in above $100 million so far. (Each $25 worth of digital reading material purchased per Kindle, add $6 million in total revenues).
These numbers gel with what Wall Street analysts have been predicting. And if a new Kindle comes out targeted at the textbook/school market, sales could ramp up higher.
Scott Devitt, an analyst at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., predicts that Amazon is on track to sell 500,000 to 750,000 more Kindles over the next four quarters (including this one). He estimates that Kindle owners will buy an additional $120 to $150 worth of books and other content for each device, bringing the total revenues over that time period to somewhere between $225 million and $355 million. Based on that, he values the Kindle as a $1 billion business for Amazon.
Back in May, Citi analyst Mark Mahaney was estimating that total sales of Kindle’s this year would only reach 189,000. That number may have already been surpassed (depending on how many of the 240,000 units Amazon sold before January). His estimate called for 467,000 units to be shipped next year, and 2.2 million in 2010, resulting in total revenues going from $60 million in 2008 to $741 million in 2010. It might be time for him to revise those numbers upward.”
I spoke to a Kindle user this morning. I asked him how he likes it? He raved about it! He said that he had bought it right after the initial roll-out and that it is everything he had hoped for in a paperless reading device.
I asked him about the battery life of the Kindle? He was very satisfied with that aspect of it. He said that the design is such that the battery life is good and that he gets extended use of the device before having to re-charge it.
His favorite thing about the Kindle is his ability to read newspapers like the New York Times. He said that he frequently turns on his Kindle before even getting out of bed in the morning so he can read the newpaper at his leisure.
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to read the Dayton Daily News on a Kindle? With the current pace of technological change who knows? It could happen.
Amazon.com really knows how to sell the Kindle and the content for it. The current top download at Amazon for the Kindle is Spirit House: A Vincent Calvino Crime Novel by Christopher G. Moore. The publisher, Grove/Atlantic and Amazon.com have a special promotion going where readers can download the beginning of the book for free. Now that is smart business.
Vick Mickunas
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: in the Amazone
Comments
By victor mickunas
August 4, 2008 10:18 AM | Link to this
Dave, that is a good question. Does anyone have any comparative information that they would like to share on the differences between these types of devices?By Dave
August 4, 2008 9:40 AM | Link to this
Vick, My son downloads a lot of free books to his PDA now. And it can connect to the internet, so he can read most newspapers, etc. on it. What would be the advantage of this “Kindle” over his PDA? Thanks.By lmj
August 2, 2008 6:23 PM | Link to this
I just wondered if this medium will be available in or to libraries. Since I tend to use the library so much since I’ve no more room for books or bookshelves, I wonder if there is an beneficial application there.