Amazon CFO Sees Good Returns From Kindle Device, Content
10 Juin 2009 - 8:39PM
Dow Jones News
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), the electronic retailer, expects to get
good returns both from selling the Kindle book device and from the
content associated with it, the company's Chief Financial Officer
said Wednesday.
"We think we can make good returns over time on both the device
and the content," Thomas Szkutak told attendees at a technology
conference hosted by Credit Suisse Wednesday.
He declined to provide specific figures, but Citigroup Global
Markets has estimated that Amazon sold roughly 500,000 units of the
Kindle last year and is on track for $1.2 billion in revenue
related to the product by 2010, equivalent to 4% of its total
sales.
The Kindle is facing challenges from a number of companies
however. Sony Corp. (SNE), has sold more than 400,000 e-book
readers since January 2009. Plastic Logic, a Mountain View,
Calif.-based company, has also announced plans to launch a
larger-screen based version of the reader. Apple Inc. (AAPL) is
also reported to be considering launching a competitor.
-By Jessica Hodgson, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-439-6455;
jessica.hodgson@dowjones.com