Amazon says Kindle Fire sold a bunch, but won't say how many

Amazon's Kindle Fire was expected to be a success because of the Amazon brand name and $199 price point, but the tablet has continued to outsell predictions and is now the best selling item on Amazon for the eighth straight week. Black Friday saw enormous interest in not only the Fire, but the entire Kindle family, Amazon said, though it didn't actually release any numbers to back that up.

See the full press release after the break.

Source: Amazon

Best Black Friday Ever for Kindle Family: Kindle Sales Increase 4X Over Last Year

Holiday shoppers made Kindle Fire the bestselling product across all of Amazon.com on Black Friday

Kindle Fire now the bestselling product across Amazon for 8 weeks running - ever since its introduction on September 28

SEATTLE, Nov 28, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- (NASDAQ: AMZN) Amazon.com, Inc. today announced that this Black Friday was the best ever for the Kindle family and the popular Kindle Fire remained the bestselling product across all of Amazon since its introduction 8 weeks ago. The bestselling Kindle family - the $79 Kindle, $99 Kindle Touch, $149 Kindle Touch 3G and the $199 Kindle Fire - are available now at www.amazon.com/kindle and at over 16,000 retail locations throughout the United States.

"Even before the busy holiday shopping weekend, we'd already sold millions of the new Kindle family and Kindle Fire was the bestselling product across all of Amazon.com. 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 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."

"This was a great Black Friday for Target and for Kindle Fire, which was the bestselling tablet in our stores on Black Friday," said Nik Nayar, vice president merchandising, Target. "We're excited so many guests chose Target as their destination for the new family of Kindle devices and we're sure Kindle Fire will continue to be at the top of wish lists this holiday season."

"We knew Kindle Fire and the new E Ink Kindles would be highly desirable gifts this holiday season," said Wendy Fritz, senior vice president of Computing, Tablets and e-Readers at Best Buy. "If this Black Friday was any indication, they are only getting hotter as we get into the shopping season."

Kindle Fire is the bestselling item on Amazon.com and offers more than 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, magazines, apps and games - such as Netflix, Hulu, Pandora and Angry Birds - as well as free storage of Amazon digital content in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync for books and movies, a 14.6 ounce design that's easy to hold with one hand, a vibrant, color touch screen, a powerful dual-core processor and Amazon Silk - Amazon's new revolutionary web browser that accelerates the power of the mobile device by using the computing speed and power of the Amazon Web Services cloud - all for only $199.

The $79 latest generation Kindle is for readers around the world who want the lightest, most compact Kindle at an incredible price. Kindle is now small and light enough - at less than 6 ounces - to fit easily in your pocket and carry with you everywhere, yet it still features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper, even in bright sunlight.

Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G feature an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes - still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G are also lighter, smaller, offer audio capabilities, such as text-to-speech and deep integration for audiobooks, extra-long battery life and hold thousands of books. Kindle Touch 3G offers the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle's free 3G connection means you never have to hunt for or pay for a Wi-Fi hotspot - you simply download and read books anytime, anywhere in over 100 countries around the world. Amazon pays for the 3G connection so there's no monthly fee or annual contract. Both Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G include X-ray - a new feature invented by Amazon that lets customers explore the "bones of the book."

With an Amazon Prime membership, all of the new Kindles offer access to the new Kindle Owners' Lending Library. Kindle owners can now choose from thousands of books to borrow for free - including over 100 current and former New York Times Bestsellers - as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates. No other e-reader or e-bookstore offers such a service.

Customers can order the new Kindle family today: the $79 Kindle at www.amazon.com/kindle, Kindle Touch for $99 at www.amazon.com/kindletouch, Kindle Touch 3G for $149 at www.amazon.com/kindletouch3G and Kindle Fire for $199 at www.amazon.com/kindlefire.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon's developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes - still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle Fire is the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games and web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon's new revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core processor.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.up, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it and www.amazon.es. As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise

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Sean Brunett