Third-Gen Kindle Fastest Selling Ever: Shipping (Early) To Mongolia

No great surprise, given the constantly slipping ship date for new orders, but Amazon has confirmed that the new Kindles are the fastest-selling models of the three generations.  In fact, with the first shipments only going out today, the online retailer says the ereaders are their best selling products.

Now, you could well argue that the gradually falling price over the course of the Kindle's lineage may have had something to do with that: the original Kindle was $399, the second version debuted at £359, and the two new models are $189 for the WiFi+3G unit and $139 for the WiFi-only unit.  Still, they're the most gifted and most wished for products across the US and UK versions of Amazon's site, and have found buyers in 125 different countries (including, Amazon's press release helpfully tells us, Mongolia).

Press Release:

NEW GENERATION KINDLES ARE THE FASTEST-SELLING KINDLES EVER AND ALREADY THE BEST-SELLING PRODUCTS ON AMAZON

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

SEATTLE—August 25, 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 $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 $139. The all-new Kindle 3G with all of these new features plus the convenience of free 3G wireless is only $189.

Early comments from product reviewers on the new Kindle include:

"This e-book reader's lighter weight and complete overhaul make the third-generation Kindle the best reader from Amazon yet... After spending some quality time curled up with the new Kindle, I have to say it's the first e-reader in months that's left me wanting to read more. Its solid build quality, along with its improved design, integrated store, and cross-platform transportability (books are usable on any Kindle reader app, including iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, and PC) all add up to a winner that shoots to the head of the pack." – PC World

"Despite some predictions that the iPad and other Web-oriented tablets would start the Kindle doom clock ticking, its continued popularity bodes well for the future of single-purpose long-form reading devices. The new third-generation Kindle only makes that future brighter. All its basic virtues—instant downloading from an abundantly stocked store, light weight, ability to read in sunlight—are still there, with significant improvements in text readability, physical design, and battery life." – Wired

"...given its new low price along with its massive library of ebooks and dead-simple book buying, the Kindle keeps its crown as our Editors' Choice. Simply put, it's the best dedicated ebook reader you can buy." – PC Magazine

"Amazon's newest Kindle (simply called "Kindle," though it's sometimes referred to as the "Kindle 3") is the best ebook-reading device on the market." – Fast Company

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 $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.