Internet retailer Amazon.com said growth in sales of its Kindle digital reader accelerated every month in the second quarter and that it's selling more electronic books than hardcover editions.
The pace of Kindle sales also has tripled since the company cut the price to $189 from $259, Amazon.com chief executive Officer Jeff Bezos said in a statement.
Announced last month, the 27 per cent price cut was aimed at helping Amazon.com fend off a threat from Apple's iPad, which includes book reading tools. Amazon.com hasn't disclosed Kindle sales since releasing the device in 2007, saying only that it has sold millions.
Its release of growth figures may be aimed at quelling concern that the iPad has crimped Kindle demand, said Dmitriy Molchanov, an analyst at Yankee Group. "There's a real perception that the iPad has completely squashed the e-reader space and that's really not the case," said Mr Molchanov.
"Amazon is doing really well and both companies can profit at the same time."
Amazon.com sold more than triple the number of Kindle books in the first half of the year as it did in the same period last year, Amazon.com said.
"We've reached a tipping point with the new price of Kindle," Mr Bezos said in the statement.
"Amazon.com customers now purchase more Kindle books than hardcover books - astonishing when you consider that we've been selling hardcover books for 15 years, and Kindle books for 33 months."
Apple said last month that it sold 3 million iPads in 80 days after the device's April 3rd release date. Amazon.com will probably sell 3.7 million Kindles this year, bringing in $2.38 billion in sales, according to estimates by Caris and Co. The figure assumes Kindle owners also purchase digital books.
In the past three months, Amazon.com has sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books, the company said. In July, sales of e-books accelerated to 180 sold for every 100 hardcover versions. Kindle book sales this year have also exceeded broader e-book sales growth, pegged by the Association of American Publishers at 207 per cent through May, Amazon.com said.
To fend off competition from Apple and Sony, which also makes e-readers, this month Amazon.com released a version of its larger Kindle DX with sharper contrast and cut its price by more than $100. It plans to introduce an updated version of its smaller Kindle next month with a sharper screen as well, people familiar with the matter said in May.
Bloomberg