The Kindle Fire looks like a bona fide hit right out of the gate. New estimates from IHS iSuppli have Amazon shipping 3.9 million Kindle Fires this quarter, which would make it the No. 2 tablet after the iPad 2 (with an estimated 18.6 million shipments). The Kindle Fire will become the No. 1 Android tablet by a wide margin (the Samsung Galaxy Tab is the next biggest, with an estimated 1.4 million shipments).

To put this 3.9 million number in context, just remember that the very first quarter Apple sold the iPad back in the September quarter of 2010, it sold 3.3 million. So the Kindle Fire sold more in its first quarter than the iPad did in its first quarter on the market. Of course, Apple sold 7.3 million iPads the second quarter it was on the market, which was the 2010 holiday quarter.

However you slice it, this is a good start for the Kindle Fire. It looks like Jeff Bezos was on the money when he predicted at the launch event Amazon would sell “millions” of Kindle Fires.

I can see why people are flocking to the Kindle Fire. Personally, I am a big fan. It’s a great stocking stuffer that will actually fit in a stocking. It’s smaller size is an advantage for certain applications such as ebooks. I just took it with me on a trip to Japan instead of my iPad precisely because of its smaller footprint. The price is right too, at $200.

Will the Kindle Fire ever outsell the iPad? Nobody is predicting that just yet, but it is certainly in the realm of possibility.

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