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Amazon: many iPad owners also buying Kindles

By CNET

Tue, December 28th, 2010



Another week, another press release from an e-reader manufacturer talking up big sales. This time it's Amazon announcing that the third-generation Kindle has become the best-selling product in the company's history in just five months. It's officially gone past "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (Book 7)," the previous reigning champ.


After Bloomberg reported last week that sales for the Kindle 3 were going even better than expected--sources claimed Amazon was due to sell over 8 million Kindles in 2010--this latest announcement doesn't exactly come as a surprise. But what's interesting about the press release is that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is talking up the Kindle as a companion to more expense LCD devices like the iPad and assorted Android tablets, more of which are due to arrive in 2011.


"We're seeing that many of the people who are buying Kindles also own an LCD tablet," Bezos said without citing a specific survey. "Customers report using their LCD tablets for games, movies, and web browsing and their Kindles for reading sessions."


Referencing the Kindle's main marketing points, Bezos adds that those same customers say they prefer Kindle for reading because "it weighs less, eliminates battery anxiety with its month-long battery life, and has the advanced paper-like Pearl e-ink display that reduces eye-strain, doesn't interfere with sleep patterns at bedtime, and works outside in direct sunlight, an important consideration especially for vacation reading. Kindle's $139 price point is a key factor--it's low enough that people don't have to choose."


With all that in mind, we ask, how many CNET readers have both an iPad and a Kindle (or an iPad and another e-ink e-reader such as the Nook or Sony Reader)? And if you so, do you prefer the Kindle for reading?