Amazon was the online shopping site of choice in Q4

Jeff Bezos' claim that Amazon.com had its best holiday season ever was not overstated, it would appear. And, the Kindle appears to be a hit. Amazon.com reported an 18% increase in net sales in Q4 over last year (that's North America; their international segment sales were actually up 19%).

From The Wall Street Journal: Amazon has also broadened its offerings with its own products, such as the Kindle ebook reader. But the company has struggled to meet demand for the device, which sold out quickly each of the past two holiday seasons.

Mr. Bezos said the Kindle was driving incremental book sales. "When people buy a Kindle, they continue to buy the same number of physical books going forward as they did before they owned a Kindle. Incrementally, they buy 1.6 to 1.7 Kindle books for every physical book that they buy."

Compare Amazon.com's fourth-quarter success to eBay's struggles. eBay reported a $145M decline in Q4 revenue.

Although overall e-commerce revenue fell in the fourth quarter, Amazon.com's share grew to 10%, whereas eBay's share fell to 17% (from The Wall Street Journal).