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Amazon has mentioned today that they have shipped four million Kindle devices this holiday season, a great feat for the company. This includes the e-ink readers they sell in different configurations as well as the Kindle Fire.
Unfortunately Amazon didn’t give us a rundown of which devices did what exactly but we expect the Kindle Fire did well enough. We assume a good chunk of that 4 million were cheap e-ink Kindle models as they start at just $79 and were seen as perfect gifts for first time eReader users. We’re crossing our fingers for some exact figures whenever Amazon releases their financial report sometime early next year. [via Electronista]
Correction. Kindle e-ink models start at $79.
If sales at the local Target stores were any indication, the $79 was not the hot seller – the $99 touch was. Had to hit three stores before I found one in stock for my wife, but all still had the cheap ones. Fires were in short demand when I bought mine as well, I got the last one at my local store.
They appeared to be carrying twice as many of the basic model as they were each of the two touch ones, and then half as many of the Fires as each of the Touch ones – and all stock was gone a couple days before Christams at the two nearest to my house. The basic ones just seemed to be the last ones to go.
The Kindle Fire is a pretty nice low-end tablet. I’ve read the complaints about it and can only assume that those complaining don’t understand cost/value. At the price point of the Fire (for which Amazon takes a loss) you’re not getting a camera, microphone, GPS, a ton of memory (or expansion ability), but you do get a tablet that runs most apps I’ve thrown at it, and runs them well. It’s a decent reader, though I find it a bit heavy as a primary reader and prefer my Kindle Keyboard for long reading sessions.
You get what you pay for. This was never going to be a fully fleshed out tablet, not at that price. Can you use it for web surfing, some gaming, (non-voice/non-visual) )communication and, of course, reading? Absolutely. Relatively low 8Gb memory isn’t that big a deal so long as you have an active WiFi connection. It just takes a little planning. pack what you need instead of bringing the whole house with you, as it were.
It’s not a pure reader like the other Kindle offerings, nor is it a pure tablet. But as a hybrid of some of the most useful, albeit simple, features of each, it works. It’s worth the price.
It is, plain and simple, a content delivery platform for all things Amazon. People going in expecting it to be something else will be disappointed, but it does what it’s intended to do very very well.
The selection of “free” movies and TV included with Prime is enough to keep you busy for a long while, and keeps growing, and the paid content is pretty extensive as well. I do wish the app store selection were a little looser – I really would like to replace the Fire desktop with Go Launcher or something else (ANYTHING else, really), and I prefer other keyboards to the Fire one (although it’s really not bad).
My main complaint about it is the same as yours – the weight. Next paycheck, I am investing in a stand case for the thing – my wrist and hands get tired pretty quickly holding the thing. My wife’s Touch, on the other hand is more comfortable to hold for long periods than most books are.
My wife’s main complaint about the Kindle is just how fast she is eating through the local library’s eBook checkout selection. ;)
Overall, though, I concur – they are both a fantastic value for the price.
Amazon rarely do ‘exact figures’.
Everywhere I have been they were selling like crack. Definitely a hot item.
Yep, the new Kindle line of products is very, very impressive. A Kindle touch made it under our Christmas tree this year, and it is a great book reading device packed with wonderful technological features!