Is the Kindle Fire the fastest selling consumer electronic device of all time?

We knew the Kindle Fire was selling like wildfire. But could it be the fastest selling device of all time?

Currently, Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect holds that title. Released last year just before the holidays, Kinect sold 10 million units in 60 days.

But Amazon today released some promising numbers for the Kindle Fire. Kindle devices are selling at a rate of 1 million per week for the past three weeks. That includes all Kindle models, from the $79 base Kindle to the $199 Kindle Fire. But a fair guess is that around half of those sales are of the Kindle Fire, which has already become the second-best selling tablet thanks to its low price. Plus, I can’t see too many people jumping to buy Kindle e-readers – they’ve been out for years and the Kindle Fire offers the same capabilities.

We know that the Kindle Fire has been an extremely popular device and some estimates have the tablet selling 6 million units by the end of the year and 12 million units next year.

Assuming 6 million Kindle Fires will be sold by the end of the year (three months after release in late September), the Kinect record for sales in the first 60 days won’t be broken. In addition, the official Kinect sales record is actually underestimated. An important distinction between Kinect and the Kindle Fire is that the 10 million Kinects sold only include standalone units, not those sold as a package with an Xbox 360, so far more Kinects were actually sold during that time.

But 2012 could be an even bigger year for the Kindle Fire. In addition to the current 7-inch Fire, Amazon is expected to release a 10-inch model to compete directly with Apple’s iPad. Amazon has also fielded many complaints from early buyers, and fixing those on later Kindle Fire models could bring up sales.

TechCrunch notes that Amazon has also been able to keep the Kindle Fire in stock for next-day shipping, despite being the best-selling item on Amazon since its release in the fall.

The Kindle Fire is a loss leader (but not by much) for Amazon, which expects to make its money back through sales of books, music and other content. Besides being one of the best-selling tablets, the Kindle Fire is also expected to lead the Android-based tablet market.