Amazon ($AMZN) sells millions of products every Black Friday, from hand soap to insta-pots. But the e-commerce giant also has its own branded products to sell, and it used the shopping holiday as an opportunity to get as many Fire Tablets into the hands of consumers.

According to Amazon's own sales-rank numbers from Black Friday, Fire Tablets took all of the top-ten spots for the site's Computers & Accessories category. The best selling item was the Fire 7 Tablet in Black, which is on sale for a ridiculously cheap $29.99.

Category

Name

Black Friday Rank

Computers & Accessories

Fire 7 Tablet (7" display, 16 GB) - Black

1

Computers & Accessories

Fire 7 Tablet (7" display, 16 GB) - Twilight Blue

2

Computers & Accessories

Fire 7 Tablet (7" display, 16 GB) - Plum

3

Computers & Accessories

Fire 7 Kids Edition Tablet, 7" Display, 16 GB, Blue Kid-Proof Case

4

Computers & Accessories

Fire HD 8 Tablet (8" HD Display, 16 GB) - Black

5

Computers & Accessories

All-New Fire HD 10 Tablet (10.1" 1080p full HD display, 32 GB) – Black

6

Computers & Accessories

Fire 7 Tablet (7" display, 16 GB) - Sage

7

Computers & Accessories

Fire HD 8 Kids Edition Tablet, 8" HD Display, 32 GB, Blue Kid-Proof Case

8

Computers & Accessories

Fire HD 8 Kids Edition Tablet, 8" HD Display, 32 GB, Pink Kid-Proof Case

9

Computers & Accessories

Fire 7 Kids Edition Tablet, 7" Display, 16 GB, Pink Kid-Proof Case

10

At first glance, this may appear as the results of unfair business practices, in that Amazon controls the platform on which millions of products are sold. And, while it may be, a quick look at Amazon's site shows that the company does, in fact, promote computer products from other manufacturers.

Instead, Amazon is winning on massive price discounting. While the Apple iPad is heavily promoted on Amazon's Computers and Accessories, even with a 24% discount, at $249 it's a far cry — and totally different consumer decision — from $29 for the Fire 7 tablet.

In other words, Amazon can't exactly be accused of only pushing its own products. Instead, it's just able to offer them for nearly nothing as a way to get customers into its Kindle and software ecosystem, much the same way as telecom giants subsidize smartphones as a way to attract new contracts.

After all, once someone gets their new Fire Tablet, they'll be looking for books to read, movies to rent, and software to buy. Amazon's got all of those in spades, and at much higher margins than hardware.

About the Data: 

Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales. 

Further Reading: 

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