Amazon sales soar

Stephen Withers
Friday, 29 January 2010 09:38

Business IT - Technology

Amazon has reported fourth-quarter sales of $US9.52 billion, compared with $US6.70 billion in 2008. The Kindle seems to be part of that success.

Amazon's net sales soared 42% to $US9.52 billion in the quarter ending December 31, 2009. The numbers were boosted by exchange rate fluctuations, but taking that out of the equation still leaves 37% growth.

Full year net sales were up 29% excluding exchange rate effects. This seems to be another sign of increasing consumer confidence after 18 months of economic uncertainty.

While the company did not break out Kindle-specific sales, it was the only area that founder and CEO Jeff Bezos specifically mentioned in a statement.

"Millions of people now own Kindles," said Bezos.

"And Kindle owners read, a lot. When we have both editions, we sell 6 Kindle books for every 10 physical books. This is year-to-date and includes only paid books - free Kindle books would make the number even higher. It's been an exciting 27 months."