Audio Video News

The 2016 holiday was Amazon’s best ever led by sales of its Echo and Echo Dot speaker/personal assistant devices. Sales were so brisk, the company had trouble keeping them in stock.

Noting that millions of Alexa voice-powered Echo devices were sold worldwide in 2016, Amazon said its Fire TV Stick and Fire tablet also landed on its holiday best-sellers list.

The company reported that 72 percent of Amazon customers worldwide shopped using a mobile device this holiday and purchased some 46 electronics items and 36 toys every second on Cyber Monday (November 28).

In all, more than one billion items shipped worldwide with Prime and Fulfillment by Amazon this holiday season, Amazon said, adding that the fastest Prime Now delivery on Christmas Eve took 13 minutes and was delivered at 9:05 p.m. to a Prime member in Redondo Beach, California. The order included a Tile Slim Item Finder and a Tile Mate Key Finder.

A few other Prime fun facts:

• December 23, 2016 was the biggest day ever for Prime Now deliveries worldwide and members ordered three times more items compared with 2015 with one- and two-hour delivery worldwide.
• Echo Dot, Amazon Echo, Fire TV Stick, and Oreo Cookies were some of the most popular items ordered in the U.S. on December 23
• The last Prime Now order delivered in time for the holiday was delivered at 11:59 p.m. on December 24, 2016 to a Prime member in Irvine, California; the order included a Heated Mattress Pad, NyQuil and Afrin Nasal Spray
• Prime members in Dallas, Texas ordered more items with Prime Now than any other city in the U.S. this holiday season.
• The last Prime Free Same-Day Delivery order from Amazon.com delivered in time for Christmas was ordered at 10:23 a.m. on December 24, 2016; the order included Venum Contender Boxing Gloves, and was delivered to a Prime member in Richmond, Virginia at 2:42 p.m. that same day

Best-selling holiday items sold on Amazon included:

• TV: Samsung 32-inch 1080p Smart LED TV, Avera 32-inch 720p LED TV, Samsung 40-inch 1080p Smart LED TV
• Smart Home: TP-Link Smart Plug, Philips Hue White A19 Starter Kit, Samsung SmartThings Hub
• Video Games: Pokémon Sun (Nintendo 3DS), Pokémon Moon (Nintendo 3DS), Final Fantasy XV (PlayStation 4)
• Wireless: AmazonBasics Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable (6 Feet), WeMo Light Switch, Samsung Wireless Charging Pad

Other entertainment and tech-related fun facts for the holiday season:

• Amazon.com customers purchased enough 4K TVs to reach the peak of Mount Everest more than nine times
• Amazon.com customers purchased enough copies of the Harry Potter: Complete 8-Film Collection to play consecutively for more than 300 years
• The Night Manager was the most watched TV series streaming on Prime Video
• Eye in the Sky was the most watched movie streaming on Prime Video
• Goliath was the most streamed Amazon original series
• Love & Friendship was the most streamed Amazon original movie
• “It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams was the most streamed holiday song on Amazon Music
• Michael Bublé – Christmas was the most played holiday album on Amazon Music
• Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential was the top foodie book read by Kindle customers
• The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary Chapman was the top non-fiction book downloaded in Prime Reading in 2016
• Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show, and narrated by the author, was the highest rated audiobook of 2016 on Audible
• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins was the bestselling audiobook of the year on Audible