Amazon says e-book sales surpass printed books (AP)

NEW YORK – Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday said that, after less than four years of selling electronic books, it's now selling more of them than printed books.

The online retailer said that since April 1, it has sold 105 e-books for every 100 printed books, including printed books for which there is no electronic edition. The comparison excludes free e-books, which would tip the scales further if they were included.

Printed books include both hardcover and paperback books. Amazon said in July that e-book sales had outstripped hardcover sales. It's now selling three times as many e-books as it did a year ago.

Analysts estimate that Amazon accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. e-book sales.

Amazon also said the latest and cheapest version of its Kindle e-book reading device is the best-seller of the line, five weeks after it was introduced. The Kindle with Special Offers costs $114, and shows ads in standby mode.

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Amazon sells more ebooks than print books for the first time (Yahoo! News)

It's official: ebooks have eclipsed their print counterparts — at least on Amazon. According to a new press release from the online retailer, as of today, customers are buying up more virtual books than hardback and paperback books combined. The milestone is impressive, and highlights both the popularity of the company's e-reader, the Kindle, and the rise of the ebook as a legitimate publishing medium.

Amazon's Kindle bookstore continues to grow by leaps and bounds. According to the company, in 2011, it had sold 3 times as many ebooks as it did during the same period of time in 2010. With rumors swirling about an Amazon tablet (or 2) on the horizon, the future looks quite bright for the company that used to be better known for its online marketplace than its e-reading ventures.

At least part of the success can likely be attributed to Amazon's open model for selling its virtual books. While other platforms like Apple's iBooks are only readable on Apple's own hardware, Kindle ebooks can be read across almost any platform imaginable — from Android phones and the iPad to the web itself.

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