Andre Yoskowitz
5 Feb 2009 11:35
According to Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney, Amazon sold 500,000 Kindle e-reader devices during the 2008 year, far ahead of the estimated 378,000 units anticipated by most analysts.
Amazon has not yet released any sales numbers on the device but Mahaney says the "integrated EVDO antenna in each Kindle has provided an alternative gauge." Sprint's recent financial earnings report added that 210,000 "certain wholesale devices" were activated in the third quarter.
As an early marketing gimmick, Amazon originally nicknamed the device the "iPod of reading" and if Mahaney is right, then sales are rivaling that of the original launch line of the iPod. In its first year of availability, Apple sold 400,000 of the media devices.
Amazon currently offers 230,000 titles for the Kindle and has seen huge demand that has way outpaced supply since its release.