Amazon Kindle Heading to Best Buy & Staples This Fall

Posted 09/11/2010 at 7:20pm | by Justin Kerr

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Amazon keeps the exact number of Kindle’s sold under wraps, but since we know it been the bestselling item on the website for two years running, it’s not hard to imagine that it leads the pack in the e-reader market. The Nook was slowly nibbling away at its market share prior to the price cut, but the only real advantage competitors had left was a presence at brick and mortar stores, something Amazon is finally going to change.

Best Buy & Staples will be getting all three Kindle variants heading into the fall giving consumers a chance to test Amazon’s best against the Nook, Sony Reader, and several other lower end e-book devices. This isn’t the first time the Kindle has hit retail stores, but it is a first for this generation of device. Placing the Kindle in the retail channel is understandably a difficult decision for a company that has built its entire business model around selling via the web, but one that ultimately can only help move more devices.

The decision is likely a result of the Kindle team being divided into two parts, one devoted to selling books and the other to selling hardware. Each team can make decisions to further each section of the business without worrying about the impact on the other end. Giving consumers a chance to check out the Kindle in person is a wise decision, and one that will likely pay off well going into the holiday season.

No official date has been given for stock to arrive at either Best Buy or Staples, but we imagine this is a result of the current backorder situation on the website.