Wal-Mart to Stop Selling Amazon Kindle

Wal-Mart (NYS: WMT) is going out of the Kindle business, the company has confirmed to news organizations after a Reuters report broke the news today. Reuters cited a Wal-Mart memo from Wednesday saying the retailer will no longer carry Amazon.com's (NAS: AMZN) tablets and e-readers. The retailer will continue to carry tablets and e-readers from other companies.

The move could be seen as a defensive competitive strategy. Wal-Mart lags far behind Amazon in online sales and is working to build its presence online.

The Kindle enables consumers to shop for more than just Amazon's selection of digital books, making the tablet more of a one stop e-commerce platform than strictly an e-reader, thrusting Amazon into more direct competition with retailers like Wal-Mart. Amazon is down slightly today on the news. Target announced its decision to stop selling Kindles earlier this year.

Motley Fool analysts have prepared a premium report on Amazon.com. Get a copy to learn about the major opportunities and risks facing the company.

The article Wal-Mart to Stop Selling Amazon Kindle originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributorJohn Divineowns shares in none of the above companies. You can follow him on Twitter@divinebizkidand on Motley Fool CAPS@TMFDivine.The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Amazon.com. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days.

Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.