Kindle Review – Kindle Fire Review, Kindle 4 Review

Mr. Bezos revealed some really interesting things at the Amazon Shareholder Meeting this week. It was held at the Seattle Art Museum which is actually a really cool museum and also has a killer happy hour at the museum cafe – if you’re in seattle do check it out.

Kindle Sales Figures are never going to be revealed

Given the huge amount of buzz and coverage Amazon gets thanks to curiosity about Kindle sales figures its not surprising Amazon holds back on sales figures. Mr. Bezos hinted that Amazon might never, ever reveal Kindle sales figures - 

“I’m not sure we ever will reveal all the numbers,” Bezos said. “There often can be a competitive advantage in keeping the numbers close. You may just have to remain curious on that point, and I certainly understand the curiosity, especially because I look at the numbers so avidly every morning.”

“I beg your indulgence on the question of how many Kindles have been sold.”

There’s more to it than just competitive advantage – there’s the curiosity and speculation and free publicity. Personally, I think its a great move to leave this big unknown that keeps everyone wondering.

Kindle is probably not profitable right now

This is the exact snippet from the Seattle Times’ article -

Amazon introduced the Kindle a year and a half ago and now offers it in two sizes. The smaller model costs $359, the larger model, $489.

But is it making any money yet?

Bezos’ response seemed to be “no.”

Its really interesting that a lot of the arguments against Amazon and the Kindle revolve around -

1. How the Kindle is too expensive; and 
2. How Amazon is taking the lion’s share of the money on books and subscriptions etc.

And at the same time it seems the Kindle division isn’t making a profit. What it probably is is that we do need to put in these costs to build this ebook market. Perhaps Amazon is subsidizing lower book prices to the point where its eating up profits from Kindle sales. Perhaps Kindles are being sold for not that much more than what they’re costing Amazon.

The ‘building up the business’ philosophy is what Mr. Bezos talked about -

Amazon’s digital-media business is in “investment mode,” he said, noting that the Kindle took more than three years to develop.

“If something is successful, it seems to take five to seven years or more before it’s a positive contributor” to the company’s bottom line, he said.

Really? So we’re saying that 2012-2014 is when we start seeing a big impact on Amazon’s bottomline due to Kindles.

Color Kindles are multiple years away

Mr. Bezos indicated that color Kindles are multiple years away -

“I’ve seen the color displays in the laboratory and I can assure you, they’re not ready for prime time,” he said.

This flies in the face of eInk corporation’s claims that color eInk will be ready for mass production in 2010. Waiting till 2011 to get a color Kindle would really suck. It would also make Apple’s rumored early 2010, Netbook/Kindle killer, MediaPad even more of a threat. 

Bonus: Mr. Bezos on Advertising

Courtesy SeattlePI  -

“Advertising is the price you pay for having an unremarkable product or service,” he said.

Bezos made the comment during final portion of addressing a question about Kindle’s competitors.

Filed under: evolution Tagged: | jeff bezos, kindle sales estimates