Amazon Reports “Millions” of Kindles Sold

Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs and his iPad will face some solid eBook competition from Amazon (AMZN) and the Kindle.

In a dramatic statement about his company’s place in the eBook universe, Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos bragged that his company has sold “millions” of Kindles–the most concrete sales figures he has offered for the eReader.

Here’s his statement: “Millions of people now own Kindles … 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.”

As booksellers around the globe struggled in the fourth quarter, Bezos reported that Amazon’s net sales had grown 42 percent to $9.52 billion compared to the same period last year. The statement comes after a mixed response to the Apple (AAPL) iPad unveiling yesterday.

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