Amazon posted its financial results for the second quarter of 2011 today. The big news was that sales hit $9.91 billion, a 51% increase from the same period last year. But there were few details about Kindle or e-book sales, although the company did note, unsurprisingly, that Kindle sales were up compared to first quarter 2011.
The word “tablet,” which has been murmured excitedly by Amazon followers for some time, came up only once during a conference call with company CFO Thomas Szkutak after the earning announcement. The question received this non-response from Szkutak:
“We have a longstanding practice of not talking about we might or might not do.”
Szkutak also declined to speculate about customers’ overall preferences for digital vs. physical media. When asked about which one Amazon Prime customers, who get free shipping on physical orders and unlimited streaming of digital content, choose he answered, “We’re liking some of the metrics,” but it’s “too early” to speculate, adding that “our good customers like both” digital and physical media.
Answers about Amazon Web Services, which analysts have been watching closely lately, were equally nonspecific. The AWS team was praised repeatedly throughout the call, but specifics were scarce. “We will continue to invest in the business because of the high-growth nature of it,” Szkutak said.
