Sales of ebooks overtake paperbacks at Amazon

Amazon has announced that it sold more Kindle ebooks than paperbacks in the US during the last three months of 2010. It recorded 115 ebook downloads for every 100 paperbacks ordered.
 
"This milestone has come even sooner than we expected," commented Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, "and it's on top of continued growth in paperback sales."
 
The Kindle has recently become the best selling item in Amazon's history, but profit margins remain dented due to money spent on discounting, acquisitions and new depots for distribution.
 
As a result, although net sales for the three month period passed $10bn for the first time, the world's biggest online retailer's  warned that its operating margins in the first few months of 2011 could fall as low as 2.8 per cent. This is down from five per cent at the end of 2009.
 
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