Amazon repeats Kindle e-reader US success with a sell-out in the UK

[Tom Diego]

Amazon repeats Kindle e-reader US success with a sell-out in the UK

18/08/2010

Just two days after launching the Kindle e-reader in the UK, Amazon has repeated its US success with a sell-out.

Lighter than a paperback and skinnier than a glossy magazine, it can store 3,500 titles.

Priced £109, what has been dubbed the “anti-Apple” device will be available to its online waiting list by August 27.

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[telracs]

Why did he have to ruin it by calling it an "anti-Apple" device.  It's an e-reader, not an apple killer.

[Gerund]

Of course, in neither case did they disclose what "sell-out" means, precisely.

A set number of units, chosen because it's a nice round number?

The number of units currently in the warehouse?

The maximum number of units hypothetically available by that date?

[mattbiernat]

Why did he have to ruin it by calling it an "anti-Apple" device.  It's an e-reader, not an apple killer.

maybe because they don't like Apple and were looking for a digital device that can sell as well as Apple does. i would love to see Amazon compete with Apple in the future. Both are giants and the more competition we got the better it gets for us, customers.

[Tom Diego]

Of course, in neither case did they disclose what "sell-out" means, precisely.

The maximum number of units hypothetically available by that date?

That seems to be the criteria based on US sales.  Everyone who ordered by 8/1 @ 8:00 PM PDT is in the first shipping group.  There have been successively later dates given to people who ordered later.  Either they have n number of units available to ship in the first group or they can only ship n units per day.  Seems like Amazon is limited to number of units available to ship in each group, since the later ship dates have jumped by 2-4 days or so rather than one day.  I don't think there's anything hypothetical about it, just physical limitations.

[Sandpiper]

Usually it's not difficult to make numbers say whatever you want -- whatever looks good.

[JSRinUK]

Just two days after launching the Kindle e-reader in the UK, Amazon has repeated its US success with a sell-out.

So, on the 18th August, they report that the UK sold out on August 1st - just as it did in the US?

This isn't News.  It is, if it has a name, "Olds" (the opposite of News)... 

The dates shown on the Kindle UK pages have been mirroring the US since day one.  If that really is newsworth, perhaps they could report on the sell-out of the Kindle 1..?