Amazon Kindle Fire Sales Take Drastic Tumble In Q1 2012

Amazon managed to sell 4.8 million tablets in Q4 2011 thanks in large part to its massive marketing campaign and the holiday shopping season, now the company has announced a drastic fall in Kindle Fire sales, racking up just 750,000 similar sales in Q1 2012.

When comparing overall market sales Amazon slipped from a 16.8 percent market share in Q4 2011 to just a 4 percent market share during the most recently reported quarter. In comparison Apple’s Q4 market share rose from 54.7 percent to 68 percent thanks to the strength of 11.8 million iPad sales.

For Amazon a slip in Amazon Kindle Fire sales is bad news, the company already sells the tablets as a loss-leader, recuperating money through the sale of digital goods found inside the Amazon marketplace. The company also has a lot invested in the tablet market as it continues to shift its attention further away from traditional e-Readers, which will always share a place on Amazon shelves, to the more robust usability of Google Android based devices.

Amazon isn’t the only Android based tablet manufacturer who saw losses, apparently the downward trend in Android based tablets was witnessed by almost all manufacturers following the end of the Q4 selling season. Analysts believe that Apple’s choice to keep the lower priced iPad 2 on the market after the new iPad arrived in March has helped the company attract more buyers, while its efforts to align with educational facilities is greatly improving sales numbers.

Following in Amazon’s declining sales Samsung has reclaimed the number two sales spot int he tablet market while Lenovo and Barne & Noble Nook tablets round out the top five.

In the meantime Amazon is expected to launch a new 10-inch tablet in 2012.