Wal-Mart Dumps Rival Amazon's Kindle From Stores

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), the world's largest retailer, will stop selling Kindle tablets produced by its digital rival Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), Reuters reported.

"We have recently made the business decision to not carry Amazon tablets and eReaders beyond our existing inventory and purchase commitments," Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart said in a Wednesday memo obtained by Reuters. "This includes all Amazon Kindle models current and recently announced."

The company didn't give a clear reason for the move, but analysts told Reuters that Kindle sales could encourage customers to switch to Amazon's shopping options, hurting Wal-Mart's sales. The Kindle's lower profit margins could also have influenced the decision.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), the third largest U.S. retailer with around 1,800 stores, said in May that it would stop selling Kindles. Minneapolis-based Target was reportedly reacting against customers browsing Target's listings and then ordering the products from Amazon at a discount, according to The New York Times.

Wal-Mart still sells Apple Inc.'s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPads, Google Inc.'s (Nasdaq: GOOG) Nexus 7, Barnes & Noble Inc.'s (NYSE: BKS) Nook and Samsung Electronics Co.'s (Korea: 005930) Galaxy.

Shares of Wal-Mart gained 38 cents, or 0.51 percent, to $74.75 in Thursday afternoon trading. Shares of Amazon fell $1.77, or 0.68 percent, to $259.81.