Skatter Tech

Amazon has appreciated the many milestones in company sales that the Kindle and Kindle books alike have achieved, and it hopes to continue profiting from its latest successful franchise. As some may know, Amazon has recently reaffirmed its stance in this market with an immense price drop for the Kindle down to the current $189 tag. This move seems to have paid off, because Amazon announced today that the wide selection of Kindle books have now surpassed the company’s hardcover books sales in the United States.

The Kindle eReader has been out for about two years now, and Amazon praises it as the “the best-selling, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.” CEO and founder Jeff Bezos has commented on the advances the Kindle has made since initial release up to its recent victory over hardcover format. He believes that the Kindle has tripled in sales directly as a result of the newly lowered price, giving way to its continued success. According to the CEO, it’s “astonishing when you consider [Amazon] has been selling hardcover books for 15 years, and Kindle books for 33 months.”

Bezos’ statement brings up a good point, but also provokes an interesting argument. Should the Kindle overtaking hardcover sales be interpreted as a step towards further success, or simply as a limitation to the devices’ market? Amazon would eagerly suggest that these figures show that the Kindle is unstoppable and that customers are dropping physical books in favor of digital copies, but perhaps there is a more pessimistic take to the whole situation. Hardcover books by no means outsell paperbacks. And until we can see the Kindle surpass paperback sales, it’s tough to claim that the device, let alone e-books in general, have replaced physical books in today’s book market.

Over the past three months, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 143 Kindle books. Over the past month, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 180 Kindle books. This is across Amazon.com’s entire U.S. book business and includes sales of hardcover books where there is no Kindle edition. Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the number even higher.

Even those who don’t own a Kindle can access Amazon’s eBooks through a multitude of platforms such as PC, Mac, iOS, Android, and Blackberry devices. There are plenty of professionals and heavy-readers that will eagerly fight against the Kindle when it comes to eReaders replacing shelves of tangible reading material. Jeff Bezos is providing evidence of just how successful an intelligently designed eReader can be along with a variety of e-book. Whether or not these sales imply that the eReader will replaces physical books, it shows how the Kindle platform has advanced eBook technology in a slim, convenient manner.

Links: Amazon Kindle $189