Amazon.com Net Income Declines

New York City, Amazon third-quarter net income fell to $30 million, compared with $54 million a year earlier. Net sales increased 27% to $1.86 billion in the third quarter, compared with $1.46 billion in third quarter 2004. In North America sales rose 28% and the company sold more than 1.6 million copies of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” Amazon.com offered investors a cautious outlook for its all-important holiday shopping season in the fourth quarter: it expects fourth-quarter sales to be between $2.86 billion and $3.16 billion.