5/28/08

The Street: Amazon Still Keeping Kindle Sales Numbers Secret

Why won't Bezos reveal sales figures? It makes no sense. We don't expect him immediately to replace real books with Kindle downloads. So why not tell us how the transition is going?
Amazon CEO Touts Kindle Prospects
Pia Sarkar

SAN FRANCISCO -- Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos doesn't expect the company's portable wireless reading device to replace physical books, but he allowed for the possibility of the Kindle to one day become a significant part of the online retailer's business.

Speaking at the annual D6 conference in Carlsbad, Calif., hosted by The Wall Street Journal, Bezos declined to specify how many Kindles have been sold by Amazon since their release last fall, but noted that unit sales account for more than 6% of total book sales for the 125,000 titles available on the device.

On Tuesday, Amazon lowered the price of the Kindle to $359 from $399. On Wednesday, Bezos said the move didn't signify that the company would come out with an upgrade anytime soon, according to the All Things Digital Web site.

The speed by which analog books are converted into digital text will largely depend on how quickly the publishing industry can make the transition, Bezos said. The goal of Kindle, he added, is to allow users to seamlessly download books onto the device in 60 seconds or less...

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