Amazon raises Kindle Fire order to 5 million units in U.S.

By Rick Marshall November 10, 2011

The launch of Amazon’s Kindle Fire appears to be going well, as the company recently raised its order for the tablet e-reader to 5 million units in the U.S.

According to TechCrunch, Amazon’s decision to up the order was a product of good pre-order numbers for the Kindle Fire, which will arrive on shelves November 15.

Given that this is still well ahead of the holiday rush, early estimates of the tablet’s 2011 sales that were originally seen as optimistic could actually pan out before the year is over. In fact, the increased order from Kindle Fire manufacturers makes it likely that Amazon’s tablet will slide into the second-place spot in the market — still a far cry from iPad sales, but impressive all the same.

The announcement of Amazon’s increased order also comes in the wake of Barnes & Noble unveiling their own tablet e-reader, the Nook Tablet. The Nook Tablet will arrive on shelves just a day after the Kindle Fire.

Last week, we compared the specs of the two tablets, which are likely to be big sellers this holiday season.

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