The Fire was due to go on sale today, but perhaps the imminent release of a new Barnes & Noble Nook this week – and significant pre-orders – pushed it to go early.
The $199 7-inch device is a lot cheaper than the iPad and most Android tablets, and this cost factor along with the tight integration of content and hardware (made possible by Amazon's tweak of the OS) has led observers to see Fire as the first major rival for the Apple devices.
It's expected to sell 5m before Christmas.
"Based on customer response we're building millions more than we'd planned," said Dave Limp, VP of Amazon Kindle.
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