(Pocket-lint) - Amazon says it has sold out of the Kindle Fire tablet in the US a week before it is expected to launch a replacement.

“We’re grateful to the millions of customers who have made Kindle Fire the most successful product launch in the history of Amazon,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO, in a statement on the news.

“This has been a big year for digital products on Amazon - all of the top 10 sellers on Amazon.com since Kindle Fire launched just less than a year ago are digital products."

Bezos goes on to confirm that the "Kindle Fire is sold out" before teasing that the company has "an exciting roadmap ahead" promising: "We will continue to offer our customers the best hardware, the best prices, the best customer service, the best cross-platform interoperability, and the best content ecosystem.”

Amazon says the Kindle Fire has captured 22 per cent of tablet sales in the US, but provides no data to back up the claim.

In possibly related news, Amazon Appstore, the retail giant's venue for Android applications, has now opened for business in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

It contains a mighty host of applications available for download to Android smartphones and tablets, including bestsellers such as Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Cut The Rope, suggesting that the Kindle Fire could be heading to the UK shortly too.

Amazon is widely expected to announce a new version at an event in California on 6 September.

Writing by Stuart Miles.