Online retail giant Amazon has announced sales of electronic books for its Kindle device have overtaken its orders for hardcover books.
Company founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos said in a statement the sales growth for the device have tripled, following a price cut.
“We’ve reached a tipping point with the new price of Kindle,” Bezos said in a statement. “In addition, even while our hardcover sales continue to grow, the Kindle format has now overtaken the hardcover format,” he said.
“Amazon.com customers now purchase more Kindle books than hardcover books – astonishing when you consider that we’ve been selling hardcover books for 15 years, and Kindle books for 33 months,” Bezos said.
While the company does not release sales figures for the Kindle, it says the device has been one of its best-selling since its launch two years ago. It has the benefit of being significantly cheaper than the rival Apple iPad, at just $US189 for a basic version.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
