Yesterday we mentioned how Sony is
having difficulties in coping with the current market situation. Amazon, on the other hand, seems to have done everything right. As Businessweek
reports:
Quote:
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In the fourth quarter, Amazon (AMZN) lured customers and gobbled up market share, producing results that crushed Wall Street expectations. Revenue jumped 18% during the quarter, propelled in large part by overseas shoppers who—though shopping less—are spending more of that shrinking budget online. International sales rose 31%.
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What is more interesting to us, of course, is how the Kindle added to Amazon's successful quarter. And here, too, we hear some positive news:
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Amazon also trumpeted sales of its electronic book reader the Kindle, though it didn't disclose unit or dollar sales. "We are pleased with the demand," Amazon Chief Financial Officer Thomas Szkutak said during a conference call with analysts and investors. "It exceeded our expectations and we're excited to see the growth that we've seen since we launched it."
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During the conference call, Szkutak also said:
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We are particularly pleased with Kindle demand during the fourth quarter. We want to remind everyone that Kindle revenue and cost are recognized over a two-year period. The Kindle Store contains the largest collection of e-books available anywhere in the world. Selection increased by 45,000 titles in the fourth quarter, bringing the total to 230,000 titles. 103 out of 112 current New York Times Best Sellers are available and, along with most new releases, are priced at $9.99 or less. In addition, the Kindle Store recently added the Arizona Republic, Baltimore Sun, Orange County Register and USA Today and now offers newspapers from eight of the top ten metro areas in the United States.
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And FT
reports:
Quote:
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive and founder, did not comment during a call with investors on speculation that the company will unveil a second version of its Kindle electronic book reader on February 9.
He said that the company had been surprised by the strong level of demand for the Kindle in the fourth quarter, which led to it being out of stock for several weeks before Christmas.
“We had anticipated strong demand, and what we saw was stronger than that,” he said.
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So everything looks good and rosy at Amazon on its way to world domination, wouldn't you say?
Related: Amazon Kindle 2.0 to be launched on Feb 9th?