Amazon sold a record number of Kindle Fire HD tablets just one day after the iPad mini was announced, the retailer has confirmed.

Wednesday was the biggest day of sales yet for the second iteration of the budget Android tablet, Amazon told AllThingsD.

In an emailed statement, Amazon said: "Wednesday was the $199 Kindle Fire HD's biggest day of sales since launch and up 3x week over week."

The impressive stat seems to go a long way to answering the question as to whether tablets like the Kindle Fire and Google Nexus 7 can withstand the onslaught of the iPad mini.

Pull the Kindle trigger

It would seem logical to assume that Wednesday's surge in sales may have been caused by customers waiting to see how Apple would price the smaller tablet at Tuesday's launch event.

Potential buyers may have been put off by the £269 (£329) price-tag and decided to pull the trigger on buying a Kindle Fire HD, which is £110 ($130) cheaper than Apple's most affordable 7.9-inch offering.

Since announcing its downsized tablet, the general mood of commentators is that Apple may have priced itself out of a direct battle with Amazon and Google and will only be competing with its own 9.7-inch iPad.

This is the first indication that those suspicions may be on the money. However, AllThingsD also correctly points out that iPad mini pre-orders sold out almost immediately on Friday morning. Go figure.

Via AllThingsD