Amazon Kindle Tablets Proving Hot Holiday Items

Not long ago Amazon released its very own tablet computer in an attempt to siphon off part of Apple's domination over this nascent market. A new report suggests that the company's plan is proving successful so far, particularly if recent Black Friday numbers are to be believed.

Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet was released in early November for an impressively low price of $199 -- less than half the price of Apple's iPad.

Early reviews were generally positive, though most critics complained that its web browsing remained a tad slow. Others, however, went so far as to suggest that it fails completely to compete with the iPad, and should instead be considered "a relatively inexpensive, hassle-free but flawed way to consume books, music, and videos purchased at Amazon." (Source: pcworld.com)

Kindle Fire Amazon's Fastest-Selling Device

Still, that hasn't been enough to slow down the Kindle Fire's sales or dampen its appeal.

According to Amazon, the Kindle Fire has been the fastest-selling item on the firm's web site since it was first released. Sales were even more impressive on Black Friday and not just on the Amazon web site, with major U.S. retailer Target reporting that the Kindle Fire was its best-selling tablet that day.

The Kindle Fire isn't the only Kindle doing well for Amazon. The company says its Kindle e-reader also sold well on Black Friday, with sales of the device up 400 per cent over last year's single-day shopping bonanza.

There are a few different versions of the Kindle e-reader, including the $79 standard edition, the $99 Kindle Touch, and the $149 Kindle Touch 3G.

Customers Gobbling Up Multiple Kindles

Amazon executive David Limp was understandably excited by the activity, reporting that his firm was "seeing a lot of customers buying multiple Kindles -- one for themselves and others as gifts."

Limp went on to say that Amazon "expect[s] this trend to continue on Cyber Monday and through the holiday shopping season." (Source: wsj.com)

Thanks to the success of the Kindle and Kindle Fire, Amazon shares jumped up 3.5 per cent (to $189.50) in value Monday morning.

Overall, Black Friday was a huge success this year, with retailers reporting combined sales of about $11.4 billion -- up almost $1 billion from Black Friday 2010.

That marks record sales for the day and the largest year-over-year increase since 2007.