Revenue generated through the Kindle ecosystem will continue to soar, according to a report from Caris & Co.
In a note to investors, Caris analyst Sandeep Aggarwal calls the Kindle the "most compelling eBook device" in a growing market. He says that Amazon will see $5.42 billion in Kindle-generated revenue in 2011, and he predicts that figure will climb to at least $7.96 billion in 2012.
He notes that the multibillion-dollar earnings have been spurred by the ever-expanding Kindle ecosystem. In April alone, the number of titles in the Kindle store increased by 47,000, and as of this month there are 945,026 titles available on the platform. That's an increase of 740,000 ebooks since Kindle's first anniversary in November 2008.
The store currently offers 600 ebooks enhanced with embedded video and audio clips, 94 magazines, 167 newspapers, and 12,982 blogs. Additionally, Amazon has made Kindle software available on a number of devices across multiple platforms, including Android and iOS.
Amazon recently slashed the Kindle price by $25 when it introduced an ad-subsidized version of the device. But it seems the company doesn't even need to add another incentive for consumers to snap up the popular e-reader. While Amazon has been coy about the specific number of Kindles sold, the company says Kindle has been its best-selling device of all time.
"We think that Kindle not only helps to remove multiple costs and inefficiencies in the traditional book printing and distribution business (e.g. print and fulfillment costs, back order risk, and inventory management) but also increases propensity to buy books/content and other adjacent products due to convenience and 24/7 access," Aggarwal added.
What's next for Amazon? There is mounting evidence that the company is readying a competitively priced Android-based tablet, which could present significant competition to Apple's top-dog tablet, the iPad 2.