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I've been following pretty closely and there isn't a single Amazon Kindle claim I have read in various press releases and shareholder reports that sounds "twisted" or "a lie". As Andrew H. stated, publicly traded companies simply cannot make materially misleading statements without fear of the company, and members of the board, being fined or jailed.
We do know that the Kindle does NOT represent at least 10% of revenues -- a typical threshold for "material impact". Nor do Amazon's direct Kindle competitors -- not one of them -- report device sales by unit or revenue. It is NOT in the best interest of Amazon's shareholders to reveal such useful competitive data.
It is revealing that no other ebookstore company has made the claim of selling 1 million, or even 500,000, copies of any specific author or title. Those milestones could easily be disputed by publishers if in error; and Amazon could be asked to provide a judge with proof for auditing purposes if needed.
Anyone who believes that the very slick marketing, sales and product ecosystem Amazon Kindle represents isn't leading in most markets ought to provide the case for someone else. Sony, Nook and Kobo are, in my mind, clearly well behind despite offering a clear alternative. In the end, the public will make its choices based on which product works best for them. I am very happy Kindle and Kobo user but if I absolutely had to choose, it would be an easy pick: Amazon Kindle 3.
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