Amazon.com CEO tabs Kindle an investment

SEATTLE, May 30 (UPI) -- The Kindle electronic book reader should be considered an investment product by Amazon.com shareholders, the U.S. company's chief executive officer says.

Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos told shareholders at a recent meeting the entire digital-books industry is still growing and therefore the Kindle reader should not be considered an income generator for the company, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

There has been speculation in the publishing industry that Amazon.com will likely post losses related to Kindle, an electronic tablet that allows users to download and read books in a computerized format.

The Journal said those predicted losses could be due to the fact Amazon.com offers more than 290,000 e-books for $9.99 or less. Those prices are considered less than what Amazon.com is likely paying publishers for the right to sell the literary works.

Amazon has also confirmed the Kindle has proven to be significantly higher to make than initially projected, the Journal said.