New Kindles start shipping to customers today—two days ahead of previously announced release date

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA—August 26, 2010—(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon.com today announced that more new generation Kindles were ordered in the first four weeks of availability than in the same timeframe following any other Kindle launch, making the new Kindles the fastest-selling ever. In addition, in the four weeks since the introduction of the new Kindle and Kindle 3G, customers ordered more Kindles on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk combined than any other product, continuing Kindle’s over two-year run as the bestselling product across all the products sold on Amazon.com. The new Kindles started shipping to customers today, two days earlier than previously announced.

“Kindle is the best-selling product on Amazon.com for two years running and our new generation Kindles are continuing that momentum,” said Steven Kessel, senior vice president, Amazon Kindle. “Readers are excited about all that the new Kindle has to offer, 50 percent better contrast, 20 percent faster page turns, 15 percent lighter, up to one month of battery life, and a new price of only USD$139.”

The all-new Kindle has an electronic-ink screen with 50 percent better contrast than any other e-reader, a new sleek design with a 21 percent smaller body while still keeping the same 6-inch-size reading area, 15 percent lighter weight at just 8.5 ounces, 20 percent faster page turns, up to one month of battery life with wireless off, double the storage to 3,500 books, no glare even in bright sunlight and built-in Wi-Fi, all for only USD$139. The all-new Kindle 3G with all of these new features plus the convenience of free 3G wireless is only USD$189.

Also in the four weeks since their introduction:

Kindle and Kindle 3G are the most gifted and most wished for products on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk combined.
Customers in 125 countries on six continents from Austria to Zimbabwe have already placed orders for the new generation Kindles. Some of the most remote shipments will be sent as far away as Mongolia and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Customers are already ordering books to read on their new Kindles. The most popular are the books in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, “Star Island” by Carl Hiaasen and “The Rembrandt Affair” by Daniel Silva.
Kindle offers the largest selection of the most popular books people want to read. The U.S. Kindle Store now has more than 670,000 books, including New Releases and 107 of 111 New York Times Best Sellers. Over 550,000 of these books are USD$9.99 or less, including 73 New York Times Best Sellers. Over 1.8 million free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are also available to read on Kindle devices. More than 235,000 books have been added to the Kindle Store in just the last seven months, including New York Times Best Sellers “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest,” “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” and “The Passage.”

Kindle lets you Buy Once, Read Everywhere, on Kindle, Kindle 3G, Kindle DX, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Mac, PC, BlackBerry and Android-based devices. Amazon’s Whispersync technology syncs your place across devices, so you can pick up where you left off. With Kindle Worry-Free Archive, books you purchase from the Kindle Store are automatically backed up online in your Kindle library on Amazon where they can be re-downloaded wirelessly for free, anytime.

Customers can discover full details and order the new Kindle and Kindle 3G at www.amazon.com/kindle3G and www.amazon.com/kindleWi-Fi.