Amazon is betting on games hardware Microsoft Kinect and Sony Move to be its biggest sellers this Christmas as the etail giant revealed global sales rose 41% in its second quarter to $6.57bn (£4.34bn).

International sales, including the UK, were up 35% to almost $3bn (£1.9bn). Christopher North, vice-president of media categories at Amazon.co.uk, said the growth was the group’s strongest in any quarter for the last five years, and that he was excited about the hardware launches.

North said Amazon had seen growth in smaller retailers fulfilling their orders through Amazon as it is a more convenient option and shoppers trusted Amazon’s delivery.

He added: “The big trend I am excited about is third-party sales, which are 32% of worldwide sales.”

He defended some criticism it had received following the launch of grocery in the UK. Many of the products were niche and from third-party sellers making it difficult to get deliveries at a specific time.

“It is not the place to do your everyday shopping,” he said.

North added that mobile was increasingly important to Amazon, with $1bn (£644.8m) of group sales now from mobile devices.

Amazon put some of its growth down to Kindle sales and now sells more digital books than it does hardcover books for the first time.

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