Do Kindles still matter?

We like to keep track of the Amazon hardware universe, and we continually are looking for what affiliations identify Amazon’s most productive customers. Last week we noted that Echo owners are very good Amazon shoppers, and we previously looked at Amazon credit cardholders.

The original Amazon hardware was of course the Kindle e-Reader, introduced 15 years ago this month. Since the early generations of Kindles, there have been new developments - like the introduction of smartphones and tablets! Amazon continues to release new Kindles and currently offers three models - baseline, mid-range, and premium. A fourth model with note taking capabilities will ship tomorrow.

Use of the Kindle app on smartphones and tablets diminishes the need for dedicated e-reader hardware, so it is no surprise that Kindle popularity has declined over the years. However, it does have a steady base of support among Amazon customers. After the recent peak at just over one quarter of Amazon shoppers during the height of the pandemic, Kindle device penetration declined to just under 17% % of all Amazon customers in the year ending with the September 2022 quarter (Chart 1).