By Dan Gallagher
Amazon.com (AMZN) is unlikely to ever reveal sales data for its
popular Kindle e-book reader, CEO Jeff Bezos told the company's
shareholders at their annual meeting Thursday.
The online retailer launched the latest update to the Kindle in
February and added a large-screen version earlier this month. But
ever since the first iteration of the device came out in late 2007,
the company has refused to provide any specific sales data for the
product, leaving analysts and investors to guess as to the overall
impact on the company's bottom line.
"I'm not sure we will ever reveal all the numbers," Bezos told a
shareholder during a question-and-answer session at the meeting,
which was broadcast over the Web. "Our point of view is that there
is a competitive advantage to keeping the numbers close."
Bezos added that he understands the curiosity, given that he
checks the sales data himself on a daily basis.
"The data we have shows us that this is turning into something
special. So I beg your indulgence on the question of how many
Kindles have been sold," he said.
Estimates from analysts have varied widely. Analysts believe
Amazon may have sold more than half a million devices in 2008. Mark
Mahaney of Citigroup believes about 300,000 Kindles may have been
sold in the first quarter of this year, based on data provided by
Sprint (S), the telecommunications carrier that provides wireless
service for the device.
Many analysts believe Kindle sales this year will pass the 1
million mark.
Of the sales, Amazon has only said that - out of sales of books
that have a Kindle version available - 35% of those sales involve
the electronic format.
Bezos said the company has done very little advertising for the
Kindle, though the product occupies a prime spot on the front of
the company's Web site. He said most sales for the device are
driven by word of mouth.
"Advertising is the price you pay for having an unremarkable
product or service," he said at the meeting.
-Dan Gallagher; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com