Kindle sales pegged at $1 billion by 2010
CitiGroup analyst Mark Mahaney said the device may be the gadget gift of the holiday season, selling double his original estimate of 190,000.
Sales of the Amazon Kindle may be higher than expected, according to CitiGroup analyst Mark Mahaney, who inferred once again that the e-reader is the Apple iPod of the book world.
The analyst said Monday that he expects the Kindle to sell about 380,000 units in 2008. The figure is double that of his original sales estimate for the e-reader, and equal to the amount of iPods sold during the first year of release.
Mahaney wrote in a client note that the Kindle may become one of the hottest gifts of holiday season, citing the fact that Kindle is still topping Amazon's best-selling electronics list and customer reviews are positive and abundant.
He wrote that he expects the e-reader to contribute $1 billion in sales by 2010, making up 4 percent of the online retail giant's revenue.
Amazon shares rose almost 10 percent after the Citigroup announcement, closing at $88.09.
The device, which can access more than 150,000 books and hundreds of newspapers and blogs, debuted on Amazon.com in 2007 and was sold out for weeks after its release. It currently is priced at $359.