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Amazon.com estimates that it has 70-80% of the e-book market, and that 80% of its e-book sales are to people with Kindle devices, CNET reports.
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-20012381-82.html?part=rss&subj=... target="_blank">Ian Freed, an Amazon vice president in charge of the Kindle, said in an interview with the tech site that estimates released by Apple and Barnes & Noble - that they had 20% of the market apiece - did not "quite add up".
He explained: "We're pretty sure we're 70-80% of the market. 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 70-80% number and add up all the others and something somewhere isn't going to add up."
Freed said growth was still strong "with a device [the second-generation Kindle] that's over a year old, and then the content is growing both with the device sales and independently with the apps. We see a lot of customers start with apps and buy a Kindle later."
He also gave a dig at the agency model, being pushed by competitor Apple, saying Amazon had seen a shift in consumers "going to e-books that are $9.99 or less" following some publishers' decisions to push prices up. "So customers are voting with their pocketbook," Freed added.
On those buying Kindle titles, Freed said: "Some numbers we haven't released before...80% of Kindle books we sell are sold to Kindle owners. They may have a Kindle app on a phone or an iPad or Mac or PC, but they at least have a Kindle. So 20% do not."