Target to stop selling the Amazon Kindle this spring

Target Corp. confirmed today that it will stop selling Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle e-readers, tablets and all accessories at its stores and on its website, the Associated Press reported.

The Amazon products will disappear from shelves this spring, CNN reported.

Target will continue to sell Barnes & Noble’s Nook e-readers and Apple iPad, according to the AP. In fact, the retailer is opening mini Apple shops in 25 of its locations this year.

Kindles have been a hot seller for Target, the AP reported. Kindle was Target’s best-selling tablet in its stores on 2011’s Black Friday, typically the busiest day of the year.

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Target would not explain the reason for pulling the Kindle from its shelves, CNN reported. A spokesperson told CNN, "we typically don't discuss our relationships with vendor partners."

However, analysts suspect it’s happening because Target has come to view Amazon, whose online mega-store sells the same items Target does – apparel, home goods and consumer products – as a fierce competitor, Reuters reported.

"This is evidence that Target is getting more serious about Amazon as an enemy rather than a partner," Matt Nemer, an analyst at Wells Fargo, told Reuters.

"Target is trying to distance themselves from Amazon as much as possible because they recognize they are losing sales to them," Scott Tilghman, an analyst at Caris & Co., told Reuters.

“Showrooming,” the practice of browsing products in brick-and-mortar stores, then using a smartphone to shop online for a better price, has become a concern for Target, Reuters reported. Online-only retailers like Amazon, which may offer lower prices for the same products, particularly in states that don’t collect sales tax for online purchases, often win the sale.

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