Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) is going out of the Kindle business, the company has confirmed to news organizations after a Reuters report broke the news today. Reuters cited a Wal-Mart memo from Wednesday saying the retailer will no longer carry Amazon.com's (Nasdaq: AMZN) tablets and e-readers. The retailer will continue to carry tablets and e-readers from other companies.

The move could be seen as a defensive competitive strategy. Wal-Mart lags far behind Amazon in online sales and is working to build its presence online.

The Kindle enables consumers to shop for more than just Amazon's selection of digital books, making the tablet more of a one stop e-commerce platform than strictly an e-reader, thrusting Amazon into more direct competition with retailers like Wal-Mart. Amazon is down slightly today on the news. Target announced its decision to stop selling Kindles earlier this year.

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