US online retail giant Amazon reported strong quarterly net profit and revenue growth last night and said the latest version of its Kindle electronic book reader is its fastest-selling ever.
Amazon said net profit rose 16% in the third quarter compared to the same time last year to $231m while revenue increased 39% to $7.56 billion. Earnings per share of 51 cents were better than the 45 cents per share expected by Wall Street analysts.
Amazon said it expected revenue of between $12-13.3 billion in the fourth quarter, an increase of between 26-40% compared with the fourth quarter of last year.
'This holiday season we'll have the best prices, the biggest selection, the highest in-stock, and the fastest delivery in our history,' Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos said.
Amazon does not release sales figures for the Kindle but said the latest generation of the electronic readers are the 'fastest-selling Kindles of all time and the bestselling products on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.'
'More new generation Kindle devices were ordered in the first 12 weeks of availability than in the same time frame following any other Kindle launch,' Amazon said.
Amazon unveiled two new versions of the Kindle in late July, including one that sells for $139, its lowest price yet.
Amazon cut the price of the Kindle and revamped the line in the face of a threat in the e-reader market from Apple's iPad, the Sony Reader and the Nook from Barnes & Noble.
Amazon said North America sales rose 45% over a year ago to $4.13 billion while international sales from the company's British, Chinese German, French and Japanese sites rose 32% to $3.43 billion.
Amazon said media sales, which include books, music, film DVDs, video games and other items, grew 14% to $3.35 billion while electronics and general merchandise sales grew 68% to $3.97 billion.
