Kindle logs record sales for November

Kindle is flying off the shelf – but for how much longer?

Amazon has reported a record month for its Kindle reader tablet.

The company said that the Kindle was the top-selling item across all Amazon categories through November.

News of the big month for the Kindle comes after Amazon's October launch of the wireless-enabled model, which coincided with price drops on other models.

"Kindle is a great gift for anyone who loves to read and it's flying off the shelves faster than any other product Amazon sells," said Amazon Kindle vice president Ian Freed.

"We’re seeing lots of people buying from one to a handful of Kindles as gifts for friends or family, as well as many businesses and other organisations buying Kindles in large quantities for their employees or customers."

News of the Kindle's big month came as retailers around the internet were banking on a successful "Cyber Monday" to kick off the holiday shopping rush. Along with Amazon, vendors such as Sony and Barnes and Noble hope that the Christmas shopping season brings big numbers for the reader tablet market.

According to analysts, however, those hopes may be in vain. A recent report from Gartner predicted that both vendors and consumers will likely have to wait until 2010 to see the e-reader market truly hit its stride.

The company noted recent shortages suffered by vendors, as well as what is expected to be a bumper crop of new devices to be unveiled at the 2010 CES conference in Las Vegas.

Though it is currently dominating the market, the Kindle could very well be overtaken by more powerful and compatible reader devices by this time next year, noted Gartner analyst Allen Weiner.

"Even with Kindle winning a one-horse e-reading retail race, it will be a hollow victory," Weiner wrote in a company blog posting.

"What seems cool today could be a paperweight next holiday season."