Amazon's Kindle Fire might not be the perfect tablet, but the price may be just right. Target announced the Kindle Fire was the best selling tablet on Black Friday, despite offering a $75 gift card with the purchase of an iPad 2.
Amazon's prized jewel also makes it to the top of the list at Best Buy's website when users sort the tablet section by "best-selling", noted Business Insider. Be aware this does not mean the Fire is outselling the iPad, but rather only specific models of it. Despite this, it is still a very postive milestone for Amazon as the Xoom and Nook seem to be well behind the Kindle in sales.
Black Friday was a boon for the device as Amazon claims to have sold four times as many Kindles than last year during the yearly shopping ritual. Even before the mobs of Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers though, the Kindle Fire had already been the #1 best-selling product on the company's website for nearly 8 weeks in a row. As we mentioned previously, Amazon has been continually revising their estimates and ramping up production to keep up with sales expectations.
Amazon never releases sales figures for Kindle devices, but analysts have been watching as the Kindle continues to sell in solid numbers. Some analysts at major firms have revised their estimates on how many units Amazon will ship this year by substantial margins, some upwards of 20%.
Anthony DiClemente, an analyst at Barclays Capital, wrote, "If the 4x sales run-rate (vs. 2010) is representative for the entire fourth quarter, then we believe our current Kindle estimates could be conservative". DiClemente went on to say that data released by Amazon on Monday suggests the company may sell as many as 13.6 million Kindles during Q4 2011 alone. This figure includes all Kindle products, not just the Fire. This is an increase of 2.6 million from previous estimates.
Amazon's aggressive pricing is likely a major factor in how well sales have performed. Just a couple of weeks ago, iSuppli determined that Amazon is actually selling the Kindle Fire at a small loss. It is thought the company is banking on the sales of books, media and apps to subsidize its cost.