Amazon has reported that it currently holds up to 80 per cent of the e-book market.
In an interview with CNet, Amazon’s vice president for Kindle Ian Freed responded to a question about Apple and Barnes and Nobles claims that they each hold 20 per cent of the e-book market respectively by saying that their figures didn’t add up.
“Honestly, something doesn't add up because we're pretty sure we're 70 to 80 per cent of the market,” stated Freed. “So, something, somewhere isn't quite working right. I encourage you to do some more research. Obviously, from the beginning of Amazon we've been very metrics-focused and we don't typically throw out numbers we don't firmly believe in. Take that 70 to 80 per cent number and add up all the others and something somewhere isn't going to add up.”
Amazon has seen sales of Kindle triple twice in the last eighteen months, first in the first quarter of 2009 and again after the company dropped the price of the e-reader to $189. This growth in device sales has in turn spurred a growth in e-book sales, with the company selling more digital copies than hardbacks for the first time.
The firm's comments come as the Connecticut Attorney General has written to Amazon and Apple asking them to explain why many of their bestsellers are priced exactly the same.
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