Amazon Says Kindle Withstood iPad Mini Assault

With a starting price tag of $329, Apple’s new iPad mini may indeed be too expensive to attract budget-conscious consumers.

In response to a question about how Kindle sales were faring following Apple’s iPad mini announcement on Tuesday, Amazon spokesperson Drew Herdener reported they were selling better than usual. “Wednesday was the $199 Kindle Fire HD’s biggest day of sales since launch and up 3x week over week,” according to a statement emailed to AllThingsD.

Since Amazon never releases actual sales data, we don’t know how many Kindles that translates to, but still, the statement may surprise some who had expected Kindle sales to fall once Apple had a comparable device on the market. But given that they did the opposite it might imply that some people were waiting to see what Apple announced — and how much it would cost — before making their decision.

In addition to being $130 cheaper, the Kindle Fire HD is also slightly smaller than the 7.9-inch iPad mini and comes with a high-definition display, unlike the iPad mini’s display, which is standard definition.

Mind you, none of that stopped preorders for the white iPad mini from selling out this morning soon after they went on sale.