To nobody's surprise, Amazon.com
The e-tail giant started shipping out Kindle preorders a couple of days ahead of schedule, which indicates that manufacturing is running as smoothly as a bathtub of Greek yoghurt. At the same time, ordering a third-gen Kindle today will get you a device around the middle of September. I'm sure Amazon ordered up generous quantities of its new baby from somebody like (probably) Hon Hai Precision Industry or (probably not) Nam Tai Electronics
It's great to see someone other than Apple
If you thought the iPad would hurt Kindle sales at all, I think that notion has been busted already. The same goes for a rising tide of competing single-purpose e-book readers from Borders Group
The time has come for Kindle to truly enter mainstream culture. E-books are generally cheaper than hardbacks or paperbacks, easier to lug around in large quantities, searchable, bookmarkable without dog-earing the pages, and more. And the content is there now, including a large majority of The New York Times' current best-seller list. E-readers in general, and Kindle in particular, have hit the tipping point.
Now please just tell us how important this trend is to you, Amazon. Inquiring investors want to know!