Clarifying Amazon Kindle Sales Figures

As Amazon unveiled the Kindle 2 this morning, there was confusion among readers and reporters about what percentage of Amazon’s book sales were Kindle books.

PaidContent quoted Bezos: “Today, more than 10 percent of the units we sell are Kindle books.” Both GalleyCat and Engadget also used that initial figure. CNN reported: “Its texts account for 10 percent of Amazon’s book sales despite the fact that 200,000 titles — a tiny fraction of the books offered on the site — are available in digital form.”

Following the advice of readers, GalleyCat asked an Amazon spokesperson for clarification. They reduced that early number: “Kindle sales make up more than 10 percent of sales of books that are available in both traditional and e-book form.”

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