Amazon.com Inc., the largest online retailer, said sales of electronic books have overtaken those of printed versions for the first time, a sign of the growing dominance of its Kindle digital reader. Amazon now sells 105 electronic books for every 100 printed ones, the Seattle-based company said today in a statement. The pace of U.S. book sales this year is the fastest the company has seen in more than a decade, Amazon said.
The retailer, which got its start in 1995 as an online bookseller, has since expanded into thousands of products, selling everything from DVDs to baby clothes. The company’s e- book business has been growing steadily since introducing the Kindle in 2007. Sales of e-books surpassed hardcover titles in July, and overtook paperbacks six months later.
