Surprise! Amazon has announced that in just five months, the new, third-gen Kindle replaces ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ as the best-selling product in Amazon’s history.
“We’re grateful to the millions of customers who have made the all-new Kindle the bestselling product in the history of Amazon — surpassing Harry Potter 7,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO. “We’re seeing that many of the people who are buying Kindles also own an LCD tablet…”
(take that iPad)
…Customers report using their LCD tablets for games, movies, and web browsing and their Kindles for reading sessions. They report preferring Kindle for reading because it weighs less, eliminates battery anxiety with its month-long battery life, and has the advanced paper-like Pearl e-ink display that reduces eye-strain, doesn’t interfere with sleep patterns at bedtime, and works outside in direct sunlight, an important consideration especially for vacation reading.
(another major swipe at the iPad)
Kindle’s $139 price point is a key factor — it’s low enough that people don’t have to choose.
(finally, Amazon’s closer. Price)
But seriously, is anyone surprised? I’m only surprised that it took this long to reach the number one spot. Amazon has been mercilessly hawking the Kindle to the 600 million+ visitors to Amazon.com since the it came out in November 2007. That’s the original first-gen model pictured above (courtesy of Wikipedia).
Take a look at this particularly egregious screen shot of the Amazon.com home page — and all the Kindle hawking. Seriously, it’s been front and center on the home page continuously for three solid years! No wonder it’s the top seller. Geez.
