While it’s not releasing any hard numbers, Amazon.com yesterday announced that this past Black Friday was the best ever for its Kindle family, with the Kindle Fire remaining the best-selling product across all of Amazon since its introduction eight weeks ago.
The Kindle family now includes the $79 Kindle, $99 Kindle Touch, $149 Kindle Touch 3G and the $199 Kindle Fire.
“Black Friday was the best ever for the Kindle family – customers purchased 4X as many Kindle devices as they did last Black Friday – and last year was a great year,” said Dave Limp, vice president, Amazon Kindle, in a statement. “In addition, we’re seeing a lot of customers buying multiple Kindles – one for themselves and others as gifts – we expect this trend to continue on Cyber Monday and through the holiday shopping season.”
Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble kept mum about Black Friday sales of the recently released Nook Tablet, which is seen by many as the closest competitor to the Kindle Fire.
Research firm Canalys predicts a good holiday season for both Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com’s tablets but asserts that Apple’s iPad will remain the dominant slate.
Canalys forecasts total tablet shipments will reach 59 million units by the end of 2011, with fourth-quarter volumes predicted to exceed 22 million. While the iPad will dominate in Q4, the firm says the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet are also anticipated to impact the U.S. market.
“Apple has seen its PC market share expand from 9% to 15% in just four quarters, though iPad shipments in its core market – the United States – are likely to come under pressure in Q4 due to the launch of the Fire and Nook at extremely competitive price points,” said Canalys analyst Tim Coulling in a report.
