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Target Drops Kindle: ‘A Mild Annoyance for Amazon’

Big box retailer Target, which has been selling Amazon’s Kindle devices in its stores since 2010, is pulling the devices from its shelves. However, industry experts don’t think the move will hurt Amazon’s device sales.

The New York Times has more from Simba Information senior analyst Michael Norris: “[Amazon] pushed aggressively into the retail stores because they realized that people like to be able to touch things before they buy them … It’s probably just a mild annoyance for Amazon unless other retailers follow suit.’”

We explained why Target decided to stop selling the Kindle over at AppNewser: “The reason? Because Amazon encourages customers to check out products in physical stores but tries to compete by offering cheaper prices for shopping on Amazon.com.”

The company responded to our email inquiry with the following statement: “Target continually evaluates its product assortment to deliver the best quality and prices for our guests. Target is phasing out Amazon- and Kindle-branded products in the spring of 2012.  We will continue to offer our guests a full assortment of ereaders and supporting accessories.”

UPDATE: This story has been updated since originally published to add in comments from Target.

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Thursday May 23: Real Talk about Life after Publication

These days, writers aren’t just writers: They’re social-media mavens, seasoned public speakers, and one-person publicity machines. And they still have to find time to write their books! Find out what life is like once you've landed that dream book contract in a free web chat with young-adult authors Elizabeth Norris (Unraveling and Unbreakable) and Brodi Ashton (Everneath and Everbound) — plus special guest Kristin Rens, editor at HarperCollins imprint Balzer + Bray. Thursday, May 23 at 7:00 p.m. ET. on Figment.com.