Amazon is gearing up for a happy holiday. The online store published its quarterly financials this week showing nearly uniform growth. While a pending Kindle Fire release won't turn much hardware profit, the company plans to cash in by putting a full-featured and portable storefront in as many hands as possible. According to CEO Jeff Bezos, it's already working.
Without disclosing numbers, Bezos claimed total pre-orders for its Kindle line broke previous holiday records on September 28 - the same day Amazon announced the Kindle Fire and a price drop for its original e-reader. "In the three weeks since launch, orders for electronic ink Kindles are double the previous launch," he said.
The Amazon boss added that interest in the $199 Kindle Fire is so great the company had to up its production plan. "Based on what we're seeing with Kindle Fire pre-orders, we're increasing capacity and building millions more than we'd already planned," Bezos said. Leaked internal figures revealed that over 250,000 consumers pre-ordered the tablet in less than a week.
Amazon posted net sales and operating cash growth to the tune of $10.88 billion and $3.11 billion, respectively. North American sales in particular grew 44 percent since last year, nearly hitting $6 billion. International customers spent just under $5 billion at the Amazon store during the same period.
The company did suffer a huge net income drop thanks in part to Kindle Fire production spending, earning just $63 million compared to 2010's $231 million. If Bezos' plan works, next year will look much different for the company.
The Kindle Fire ships on November 15.
Are you picking up a Kindle Fire at launch? Let us know in the comment section.
