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Seattle--Amazon.com Inc. reported that its net sales increased 35 percent in the fourth quarter while net income fell 58 percent.

According to financial results released late Tuesday, sales for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 totaled $17.43 billion, up from $12.95 billion in the fourth quarter 2010, fueled by sales of the Kindle and the new Kindle Fire, the tablet computer version of the original e-reader.

Net income declined from $416 million to $177 million.

Sales in North America, which includes the United States and Canada, rose 37 percent to $9.90 billion. International sales, encompassing the company’s U.K., German, Japanese, French, Chinese, Italian and Spanish sites, were up 31 percent to $7.53 billion.

Worldwide, media sales grew 15 percent while sales of electronics and other general merchandise, including fine jewelry, were up 48 percent to $10.91 billion.

“We are grateful to the millions of customers who purchase the Kindle Fire and Kindle e-reader devices this holiday season, making Kindle our best-selling product across both the U.S. and Europe,” Amazon.com CEO and founder Jeff Bezos said. “Our millions of third-party sellers had a tremendous holiday season with 65 percent unit growth and now represent 36 percent of total units sold.”

For the full year 2011, net sales were up 41 percent to $48.08 billion, compared to $34.20 billion in 2010. Net income fell 45 percent to $631 million.

Despite projecting net sales to increase between 22 and 36 percent, Amazon said it could actually lose money in the first quarter, with operating income forecasted to range between $100 million and a $200 million loss.

Amazon ranks No. 20 on National Jeweler’s 2011 list of $100 Million Supersellers.