Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) Kindle Equals Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad Sales

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and its popular Kindle e-reader, has been able to match sales with Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad in December, with estimated totals for 2010 coming in at 5.4 million Kindle units sold.

Some attempt to attribute this to Apple cutting back on iPad production in order to prepare for the release of its iPad 2.

But the Apple brand, for those who are fans, probably wouldn't be abandoned as easily as it sounds.

It appears rather that Amazon.com has carved out a powerful niche that is able to hold its own against Apple.

Even so, the idea that Kindle will be a large mass market product probably isn't going to be a reality, as numerous digital reading devices and tablets come to market.

Apple's iPad has yet to experience serious competition in its space either, but it's only a matter of time before a legitimate competitor emerges, although Apple does have a head start on them.