Kindle hits top of Amazon's best-seller chart

Amazon's Kindle was its single biggest-selling product in the UK in the three months to September — even though it only launched in August.

The internet retailer's UK managing director Brian McBride said Britons had embraced the electronic reading device, the 3G version of which sells for £149.

McBride said Apple's launch of the iPad tablet computer had helped increase sales of the Kindle and also sales of books through the Kindle app.

Globally, Amazon's digital sales of new books on Kindle are outselling hardback copies — even though hardback sales are still rising.

Electronic goods such as LED TV sets and Blu-ray recorders are also booming and are on a par in revenue terms with books.

Some other high street retailers such as Argos and Dixons have warned that sales could be under pressure, but McBride denied that was the case at Amazon,

"We're feeling pretty bullish at the moment," he said. "We're still seeing good growth. People are still buying books in physical or digital and DVDs but they are also buying high-end electronics."

Amazon does not disclose British sales but globally profits rose 16% to $231 million (£147 million) in the third quarter. Revenues shot up 39% to $7.56 billion (£4.8 billion).