Amazon Kindle enjoys best ever Black Friday

Amazon has reported that it sold four times as many Kindle products on Black Friday last week as on the same day in 2010, with the new Kindle Fire the bestselling product on Amazon.com in the US.

Apple's iPad remains the dominant player in the tablet market, but the Kindle Fire is considered one of the most credible challengers to enter the field to date.

The Kindle Fire's seven-inch screen is smaller than the iPad's 9.7-inch display and the Amazon device has fewer apps available, but its $199 price and access to more than 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, magazines, apps and games appears to be chiming with consumers.

Amazon said today that the Kindle Fire has remained the bestselling product across all of the Amazon Group since its introduction in the US on September 28.

The Kindle Fire officially went on sale in America on November 14, but there has been no indication as yet about a release date in other territories, such as the UK.

Alongside competing with the iPad, the Kindle Fire must also fend off the challenge of Barnes & Noble's new Nook tablet and a range of other devices running Google Android.

Amazon said that sales of Kindle products - the Kindle, Kindle Touch, Kindle Touch 3G and the Kindle Fire - were the 'best ever" on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the US that is typically viewed as the start of the Christmas shopping season.

The company is hoping for an equally strong performance today, known as Cyber Monday, when consumers are encouraged to buy their Christmas shopping online.

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Amazon Kindle vice president Dave Limp said: "Even before the busy holiday shopping weekend, we'd already sold millions of the new Kindle family and Kindle Fire was the bestselling product across all of Amazon.com.

"Black Friday was the best ever for the Kindle family - customers purchased four times as many Kindle devices as they did last Black Friday - and last year was a great year.

"In addition, we're seeing a lot of customers buying multiple Kindles - one for themselves and others as gifts - we expect this trend to continue on Cyber Monday and through the holiday shopping season."

Amazon shares were up 3.9% at $189.50 in recent early hours trading.