Amazon reports rush on Kindle e-reader

Amazon has sold out of its 6in Kindle reader

Amazon's recent Kindle price cut appears to be paying off, after the company reported yesterday afternoon that the $189 (£120) Kindle 6in device had sold out. Amazon has not given a possible date for future availability.

The firm had indicated previously that the lower price point is helping to drive sales. The reader is among its most popular items, and sales of digital titles have surpassed those of hardcover books.

Amazon also announced the first author to reach its Kindle Million Club milestone by selling one million e-books through the service. The honour was awarded to the late Stieg Larsson for his Millennium series.

"Larsson's books have captivated millions of readers around the world and ignited a voracious interest in the lives of its main characters Lisbeth Salander and Michael Blomqvist," said Amazon Kindle content vice president Russ Grandinetti.

"It has been exciting to have been a part of introducing so many people to these great books."

Amazon has also made a high-profile deal for exclusive rights to publish a group of authors including John Updike, Ralph Ellison and Salman Rushdie.

The two-year deal with literary agent Andrew Wylie will make Amazon's Kindle platform the exclusive distributor of all authors and estates currently contracted to Wylie.