Online retailer Amazon.com said Monday its customers now purchase more books for its handheld Kindle than they do hardcovers.
The electronic reader has been Amazon's best-selling item for the past two years, the company said, and that unit sales accelerated each month in the second quarter, both on a month-over-month basis and on a year-over-year basis.
"[E]ven while our hardcover sales continue to grow, the Kindle format has now overtaken the hardcover format. Amazon.com customers now purchase more Kindle books than hardcover books — astonishing when you consider that we've been selling hardcover books for 15 years, and Kindle books for 33 months," Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, said in a statement.
However, Apple's iPad appears to be mounting a strong challenge to the Kindle and other dedicated e-readers, according to CNET.
Barnes & Noble and others have come up with proprietary e-readers, which have dedicated formats. But the iPad allows users to read downloaded books from other retailers.
The iPad also seems to be edging out other manufacturers' portable game consoles, according to CNET.
