The Kindle Fire is a success.
250,000 have been sold in the first 5 days.
It’s not an inferno of success – in which case Amazon would release figures in a blaze of publicity (1 million Kindle Fires take flight and light up the Tablet skies in first week).
It’s not been attacked by a school of fire extinguishers and dampened – in which case Amazon would enkindle its ‘Secrecy Defence’ and claim it doesn’t release sales figures (because rivals could take those Kindle Fire sales figures and hire the three witches from Macbeth to fire up their cauldron and conjure up a Potion of Competitive Fire and Ice).
Kindle Fire is a smoldering success – it forces Amazon to leak sales figures and hope that news of 250K sales in 5 days (2,000 an hour supposedly) will put a match to the Kindle Fire holiday bonfire.
Here’s the Kindle Fire Sales figure article that lit up the pipes and tubes of the Internet today – the news is spreading like wild fire.
Six weeks before it officially goes on sale, Amazon’s $199 Kindle Fire is shaping up to be the biggest tablet launch ever…
A verified source within the Seattle-based online retail giant … leaked shoots show … racking up at an average rate of over 2,000 units per hour, or over 50,000 per day.
Please Note: We bear no responsibility for the sensational and fiery claim that Kindle Fire will burn brighter than iPad – that is ascribed entirely to Mr. Brownlee’s burning zeal for Android devices.
Also Note: The deft touch of leaking Kindle Touch sales – Makes the leak seem more realistic.
Kindle Fire isn’t quite on Fire – It’s smoldering
250,000 Kindle Fire sales in 5 days. Not exactly what Amazon would have hoped for, from its Fire Sale (at $199 it’s hard to argue it’s anything else).
That has to be vexing. Annoying, Frustrating. Amazon is happy and sad. Happy that sales aren’t a damp squib – that the matches are working. Sad that instead of a roaring blaze it has a comfy little fire.
Amazon has to find something that will set the world on fire. Something that will cause the smoldering to burst into flames that engulf the entire Tablet Market.
So it starts off with a tiny little flicker of well-disguised PR which it hopes will fan the flames – a ‘random’ leak to a zealous Android site. A leak that reassures people that Fire really is on fire. That the flames are reaching out and engulfing more and more of the Tablet Forest every day.
Amazon gently throws some kerosene on the flames -
It is safe to buy some Fire. 50,000 sparks every day can’t be wrong.
Let our Alaska system reassure you that Kindle Fire is indeed devouring the Tablet Forest and that a sea of flames is spreading its incandescence and warmth everywhere.
Be part of the conflagration. Sit by the glow of this campfire. Let the warmth of the hearth reassure you.
Kindle Fire is spreading. Faster than the iPad (supposedly). Fast enough to light a fire under other Android Tablet makers. Fast enough to singe the edges of Apple’s Tablet market share.
If Amazon can keep the fire going, it will have 2.5 million resplendent Kindle Fires across the country by November 15th. Embers that might spark tiny fires of desire in the minds of millions of people. By end 2011 there might be 5 million or more Fires lighting up the country. May we live in exciting and fiery times.
Filed under: Kindle Tablet Tagged: | kindle tablet sales figures
I think part of the reason for the slow start is the amount of competing news…. iPhone5, new ipad?, and “wait til nook 2″ comes out to decide.
When folks read that, they wait, just to be sure something better isn’t going to cause buyer remorse in 5-10 days.
And the fact that you can order it now, but not receive it for a month…that’s an eternity in technology development. Early adopters don’t wait a month…they know you get burned that way by buyers remorse.
So if they want to sell a month out, there has to be a better reason than “its good”. Freebies. Extra 2-3 months of the subscription service bundled for early adopters.
otherwise, folks wait until they can order it, pay for it, and get it within a week.
That’s a very good point – actually all three are. The competition for attention and the fact that there is a preorder and people don’t know what Nook Color 2 or iPad 3 might be like.
thanks for the comment.
I don’t think anyone is credibly saying iPad 3 will be out anytime soon after the Fire, though. That’ll be 6 months from now, not 2.
Nook Color 2 and the shear fact of it being a preorder seem to me to be the majority of it — the device doesn’t really compete with the iPad, anyway — it mops up a market that iPad doesn’t address at all.
@switch11 You forgot the marshmallows!!
Maybe you should give up your day job and start writing comedy! You do very well with it. Thanks for the laughs.
You’re welcome Irish.
I thought it was so childish and pointless to write it – but the aspiration to perhaps match the magnificence of a device named ‘Kindle Fire’ kept me going.
Given that the Fire is a) a first generation device and b) a pre-order with no hands-on reviews available, Amazon should be very pleased with these figures.
I love your sense of humor with this post! I’m pretty amazed with your prose: keeping everything informative but sticking with the fire pun the whole way through!
Childish? Heck no, it was hilarious! But sales comparable to the iPad launch makes it more than a cozy bonfire. Maybe a wood stove full of poplar, burns good and hot without being out of control?
Speaking of which, I’ll have to get out and cut firewood this weekend. ‘Tis the season.
thanks. Yes, it is burning bright. Hard to believe it is selling as fast as the iPad 1 launch.
I read another article quoting the same source (ultimately Amazon’s own internal inventory tracking system — which makes me think the numbers are credible). In addition to the 2000/hour number, they mentioned 50,000/day (5 days 250,000).
They pointed out that during the same period of its initial release, the iPad2 racked up 80,000 per day. I actually think this is quite good for Amazon — fantastic even. It’s not meant to be an “iPad killer” and even the most optimistic analyst is forecasting that Amazon will not exceed iPad2 sales during the Christmas season.
The real question in my mind is whether this level of demand will continue. I would expect it to fall off somewhat now that the initial buzz starts to wind down.
Oh, and yesterday’s Apple announcement was quite lackluster — no iPad3; so only possible damper/competition reasts with the Nook color 2 coming sometime soon. Looks like Amazon will have a pretty clear run this Christmas.
Yes, B&N doesn’t quite have the same marketing muscle and reach as Amazon. Nook Color is magnificent. If they are able to improve it Nook Color 2 will be the best Reading Tablet. However, little chance they can get it as much attention as Amazon can get Kindle Fire.
That’s the million dollar question – Will the demand continue. If reviews are good it might increase.
No matter what happens – It will be higher in December. A lot of people make decisions then and Amazon will be able to keep showing them Kindle Fire everytime they visit Amazon.com.
Also, don’t forget brick and mortar stores (best buy, staples — no mention of target though) will be carrying the Kfire, which should also fuel the Christmas Kfire conflaguration
yup. that will add a lot.
I just had a thought. The Fire can use Android apps, right? There are several non-Kindle eReader apps, in Amazon’s own Android store… ta-dahhhh! We now have a Kindle that reads ePUB!
Very interesting. I heard Kobo is present.
DRM will be an issue. You will have had to have bought the book in epub format from a retailer supporting an epub compatible device such as kobo, nook, etc. You probably would have to own an epub compatible device in order to buy DRM protected material for it, which is then a prerequisite before using the reader app gotten from the app store. So it’s not exactly an epub panacea.
Edward, there’s always Smashwords. I buy about as many books there as I do at the Kindle Store these days. Then again, I can’t think of any book I’ve seen there that isn’t available in both MOBI and ePUB (and HTML, and PDF, and…) — in other words, if they don’t have it in your native eReader format you have a really oddball device. I expect that Smashwords will become more popular over time, especially if Amazon is really putting the screws to indie authors.
DRM is only an issue for those who haven’t found the easily-Googled DRM removal toolkit. I suspect that people wanting to read ePUB books on their hot little Fire either know about it or will find it quickly enough.
You can buy epub with Adobe DRM books while owning nothing at all, and you can read them with nothing more than the Adobe ePub reader for windows. You do not remotely need an “epub compatible” or “epub primary” device in order to use a Kobo or Nook app elsewhere, any more than you need to own a Kindle before you can start buying Kindle books through the web app, iOS or android app, or even with no Kindle devices linked to your account at all.