Harry Potter casts spell over Amazon

By Robert Jaques on Jul 3, 2007 4:11 PM
Filed under Security

Online retailer reports unprecedented demand for latest book.

With nearly three weeks before the 21 July release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, consumers have pre-ordered more than one million copies of the title through Amazon.com.

The seventh and final book in the series has been selling at a record-breaking pace at Amazon since pre-ordering began on 1 February.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows surpassed Amazon's previous pre-order record held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The web retailer has taken nearly 1.6 million pre-orders for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows worldwide, eclipsing the previous record of 1.5 million.

First-day pre-orders for the latest book in the US were 547 percent higher than first-day pre-orders for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Amazon said that sales for the seventh book have continued to outpace its predecessors at Amazon.com and each of its international sites.